Michigan State Begins Preseason Practice

Ladies and Gentleman of Spartan Nation (and all those not who hate read this website), your boys in Green and White are back.

Kinda.

Today was the first day of Fall practice and while it was a just in shorts and helmets, it was good to see the boys out on the field and getting reps in. There are a lot of story lines that we are all chomping at the bit to hear about and Coach Mark Dantonio touched on a few of them.

On Linebacker Ed Davis:

When asked about Davis and his eligibility, Dantonio told reporters that we are all going to know about Davis on August 18th, which is the end of the second summer semester. Davis needs to complete the required credits to graduate and until that point he is still participating as a “student coach”. Through a chuckle, Dantonio described Davis as “A great coach. Fast coach. Athletic coach.”

On Team Chemistry:

One thing that is important in the college game is the way that the team is able to come together. A staple of Michigan State teams is the ability for guys to bond and really never have to deal with big time personalities over powering the group as a whole. While it is still pretty early in the season this is the point where the younger guys get a chance to bond with the veterans on the team. As Coach stated “They will live with them and things like that, so there is a little more bonding."

On Culture:

Coach Dantonio is entering his 10th season as the head coach of Michigan State and you know that one thing he is the most proud of is the culture of winning and academic success he has instilled with his players.

He was asked about culture and what that means to him and this is what he had to say: "I think culture is what you do on a daily basis. There can be a losing culture. There can be a winning culture. Culture is what you do on a consistent basis. And right now, when I talk about our culture, I would say it is one of graduation, of winning, of not having problems off the field and things of that nature.”

It is interesting to hear him mention the “not having problems off the field” in his description of culture. While Michigan State has stayed relatively clean with off the field issues, there has been some high profile issues coming out of the SEC and the Big 12 recently. It is nice to have the confidence in the Dantonio culture.