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Feel the Bern: How will Michigan State recover?

FILE - Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Big Ten Conference media days at Lucas Oil Stadium, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Indianapolis. ichigan State athletic director Alan Haller has informed suspended football coach Mel Tucker he is being fired for cause without compensation for his conduct with activist and rape survivor Brenda Tracy. The notice provides Tucker with seven calendar days to respond and present reasons to me and the interim president as to why he should not be terminated for cause, Haller said in a statement sent by the school on Monday, Sept. 18.(AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File) (Darron Cummings, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

This has been about as trying a football season for the Michigan State Spartans, and it’s just three games old.

Their head coach is about to be fired by the university for being involved in a sexual harassment investigation. There is no reason to pass judgment on that situation; that will resolve itself next month.

But the real question is what happens to Michigan State football and their players. Interim head coach Harlan Barnett was in charge last week when the Spartans got trounced by the Washington Huskies in East Lansing. That didn’t bode particularly well for Barnett, who wants that head coaching job.

The easiest way to answer the question about the kids is just to win. That’s way too simple. But the truth is the players do have other options. There’s the transfer portal, which could take them to any school they would like. There is also the thought of gutting it out, making something out of an awful situation.

Losing a head coach can devastate a program. But if the players and coaches just focus straight ahead, there is hope. The start can be this Saturday against Maryland. But if the Spartans come out on the losing end...uh oh! What more needs to be said?