The good old days were in 2003.  Recruiting news wasn't all that big at the time, and I'd look in the State News in February to see who we signed for the fall.  Fast forward to 2010, and if a coach doesn't have a few recruits by April, the fans head to the shed to hand out pitchforks and torches.  Dantonio opened up the 2011 class with Lansing Sexton RB Onaje Miller, and now he's landed quite possibly the best Michigan recruit in the 2011 class, Detroit Renaissance LB Lawrence Thomas.  Here are his measurements:

HEIGHT: 6'4"

WEIGHT: 16.57 Stone (that's 232 lbs.)

40: 4.62 seconds

VERTICAL JUMP: 34 inches

The Detroit Free Press is calling him the state's best player, which means MIchigan fans will take that as evidence that he's not.  There's no denying that this is a huge pickup though - in terms of momentum, this could be as big as the Gholston commitment from last year.  Thomas is a great pickup for Michigan State, and now we only have to wait a short 11 months before he can sign his letter of intent.  In the meantime, I've heard of games called "basketball" and "football" that can help make the waiting easier.

UPDATE - And Steve and I posted simultaneously.  Here's the best part of his story.

If your heart is not yet sufficiently warmed, check out this quote from Thomas, which comes from an interview with Sean Scherer at SpartanInsider.com:

I dreamed at playing at Spartan Stadium since the first time I walked onto the field. I wanted to be a Spartan and I felt it was only right not to disrespect other coaches. I know the one thing in recruiting that you hate to waste is time. I don't feel it would have been right of me to have my ego stroked knowing in my heart I wanted to go to State and maybe have another kid lose an opportunity to play for all these great programs. So I just got it out of the way.

Photo credit: msuspartans.com.

Danny Enos's replacement is Brad Salem, who was a graduate assistant at MSU under George Perles and Nick Saban, and most recently was the head coach at Augustana College (SD).  Salem (bio) went 31-26 in five seasons at Augustana, with 8-4 seasons the past two years.  (Those two 8-win seasons each tied the school record for victories in a season.)  Salem's father, Joe, was the head coach at Minnesota from 1979 to 1983.  Adam Rittenberg opines:

This is an interesting choice for Michigan State and Dantonio, who hasn't had to replace an assistant in a while. Enos was one of the Big Ten's top recruiters and helped Michigan State improve its presence in the Detroit area. Salem will have huge shoes to fill from a recruiting standpoint, and he hasn't been in the area for a while. But his background as a former high school coach could be beneficial as he tries to build relationships in the state.

While the running game was clearly not a strength last season, the future looks brighter: Caper and especially Baker got better as the season progressed.  Salem surely will feel fortunate to have such promising young talent to work with.  (Of course, having to replace three starters on the offensive line won't make the job any easier.  Coach Roushar, that's on you.)

It's true that Enos' departure hurts the most in recruiting, but I certainly don't think (as Rittenberg seems to) that by signing on as our running backs coach, Salem also automatically becomes our recruiting pointman.  It's possible that Dantonio was specifically looking for a recruiting ace to fill the void left by Enos, but it seems doubtful that a Division II head coach would be hired for the opening if that were the case.  Clearly, the entire staff will have to pick up the recruiting slack, but you'd figure Harlon Barnett, Mike Tressel, and the coordinators to be a little more prominent in Enos's absence than a new hire who's returning to the conference for the first time in fifteen years. 

Familiarity probably had something to do with this hire: Dantonio certainly knew Salem personally, as Salem's tenure as an MSU graduate assistant overlapped with Dantonio's time as an assistant coach under Nick Saban.  But, there are absolutely some other positive indications here: Salem has not only a strong Big Ten pedigree, but demonstrated success as a head coach.  He's not a name that most will recognize, but new positional coaches hardly ever are.  And, while Enos is gone, the relationships he forged between MSU and Detroit-area coaches surely will continue to pay some dividends; in that sense, Salem's job is easier now than it would have been three years ago.  If Salem can expand those relationships and continue our recruiting success, then that would obviously be a huge bonus.  Here's hoping.

If only to get the painful reminder of the Wisconsin game off the top of the page, let's turn back to football. Today is signing day, and here's an open thread where we'll post occasional updates. (And I mean occasional. This is not a live blog. Not even a zombie blog.)

Let the Will Gholston Confirmation Watch Begin!

And we can start here, with a list of verbals.

College football's signing day is a week from today, Wednesday, Feb. 3. After the Rather Hall drama, it will be good news for MSU if the Spartans can hang on to the commitments they have gained up to now—and the outlook on that front seems good so far. (Though you know you'll be a little better next week once you've seen Will Gholston's name in the same sentence as "signed" and "Michigan State.")

Meanwhile, though, there are some uncommitted recruits still floating around out there. The pool is dwindling, though, as one of Mark Dantonio's main remaining targets, Chicago defensive lineman Bruce Gaston, committed to Purdue last night. MSU apparently placed 3rd among Gaston's five finalists, based on the results of his elaborate hat-dropping ceremony. 

The Spartans did add a defensive lineman recently, DT Anthony White, who's from Battle Creek but played last season at Fort Scott (KS) CC, according to SpartanTailgate.com (here's the story—premium content). Juco guys aren't generally Mark Dantonio's style, but White will have three years of eligibility, and fills the spot on the defensive line that might otherwise have been occupied by Jamiihr Williams or Ishmyl Johnson, two young D-lineman players who left MSU in the wake of the Rather Hall incident. White also had an offer from Nebraska.

Greg Jones is coming back.

That Jones was a consensus first-team all-American while playing for a mostly atrocious unit speaks clearly to his unbelievable ability.  Jones is the best defensive player we've had since at least Julian Peterson, and will probably end up trumping even him; it's plausible that he'll leave as MSU's all-time leader in tackles.  Either way, this is obviously the best possible news for a beleaguered defense.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Eight players have been reinstated, four more are gone.  The reinstated are Mark Dell, B.J. Cunningham, Fred Smith, Chris L. Rucker, J'Michael Deane, Chris D. Rucker, Donald Spencer and Myles White.  All but White were involved in the incident at Rather Hall.  Five of the eight -- Dell, Cunningham, Chris L. Rucker, Smith, and Deane -- are "on the team right now," and have been present in recent team meetings.

Additionally, Ashton Leggett, Jamiihr Williams, Brynden Trawick and Ishmyl Johnson are all transferring.  (Trawick and Johnson have not been charged thusfar.)  Leggett, on the other hand, has "pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery in exchange for an agreement by the Ingham County prosecutor's office to drop the more serious charge of conspiracy to commit assault and battery[.]"

"I would just like to apologize for my actions," Leggett said to 54B District Judge David Jordon, during a pretrial hearing. "It was a very stupid act, and, as a group, we weren’t thinking. We didn’t fully understand and know that we would jeopardize our future like this."  [ . . . ]

[Leggett] could face up to 93 days in jail and $1,000 in fines, but his attorney, Hugh Clarke Jr., said that, as part of the plea agreement, the prosecutor’s office is not recommending jail time.

IMO, for a first-time offender, that seems like an appropriate punishment.  Stuart Dunnings has been steadfast in his plan to treat each player individually, so I'm not necessarily sure if Leggett's plea deal is a template for what we can expect for those who actually were involved in the fight. Regardless, the departure list from this incident currently stands at 6, including two likely starters.  The effect on next year's team, even notwithstanding the massive embarrassment this has caused, will be appreciable.

The reinstated players group includes most of the boldface names involved in the saga.  They may be back at the Daugherty building, but they're clearly not out of the water yet:

The pre-trial hearing for Chris L. Rucker was postponed until Feb. 25. Also, the hearings for Roderick Jenrette ,Fred Smith, Jamiihr Williams, Glenn Winston, Mark Dell, B.J. Cunningham, and J'Michael Deane were postponed. New dates were not immediately available.

Rucker’s attorney, Leon Weiss, said his client is pleading not guilty and that the matter is not "an open and shut case."

Damian Amthes, the attorney for Jenrette said his pre-trial hearing was postponed because Amthes had only been appointed by the court to represent him Wednesday.

Amthes said Jenrette had been offered a deal by the prosecutor’s office but declined to discuss details.

If Rucker's pre-trial hearing date is any indication, these court dates may stretch into spring practice.  Blergh.  As for Dantonio's decision to allow the players back:

"We've brought them in the team chemistry now to at least sit in the team meeting room," Dantonio said of the suspended players. "And then we'll make decisions based on what's happened at a later date."

Dantonio said he will allow the "legal process to take its course" before taking any further action.

If that's the case, why didn't he allow the "legal process to take its course" before allowing the players back?  Obviously, Dantonio knows more about the situation than I do (and more than nearly anyone else, given the continuing dearth of concrete information provided about the incident), but separating these guys until their situations were resolved seems like a better path than the one taken.  In any event, Dantonio's action suggests that none of the players will be subject to significant criminal punishment; I still expect that early-season suspensions will be forthcoming for some of the players more culpable for the incident.

More, after the jump.

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[LVS edit: More about Jones' decision here, courtesy of Adam Rittenberg.]

From the Detroit News' Michigan State Twitter page:

Breaking news: Greg Jones staying at MSU for senior season. More at Detnews.com later today.

It's also been confirmed by Rittenberg's Twitter page as well:

Greg Jones coming back to Michigan State for his senior season. Big, big boost for the Spartans defense.

AND NOW WE DANCE.

If you were looking for good news coming out of the Alamo Bowl loss, you just got it. Jeremy Langford, a running back out of Westland John Glenn high school, became Michigan State football's 17th commitment for the 2010 class. Here's how the recruiting services rate him:

• RIVALS: 2*, 5.4 rating
• SCOUT: 3*, #59 RB in the nation
• ESPN: 2*, grade of 71

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The word of the day is vivisection, as in what Texas Tech did to MSU's pass defense last night.  Sadly, I expected Texas Tech to throw for a huge amount of yardage (460 yards on 54 attempts).  The only way that MSU had a chance yesterday is if the offense could adjust to the loss of top wide receivers Mark Dell and B.J. Cunningham to suspension, who accounted for about 30% of MSU's total passing yards on the season.  Thanks to a wide-open playbook the Spartans kept it close, but they were beat by a familiar demon - the inability to stop the short pass when it matters most.

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