Spartans Knew They Were Better Than 2024 Results

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Aug 17, 2025 6:31 PM ET

It's easy to say "could have, should have, would have," not just in sports, but in everything in life.

For Michigan State, a team that enters Year 2 of what is still a fresh regime that has gotten a taste of a full season in the Big Ten, with most of Jonathan Smith's staff having come with him over from Oregon State, it's not a matter of excuses but rather a matter of knowing how close it is to reaching that next level.

"We've got a chance to be a whole lot better this fall," Smith said at Big Ten Football Media Days last month.

While five wins is an underachievement, for a new team, it tells you a lot about where you are and how much better you can be with development and familiarity.

Michigan State's confidence stems from last season

And there's confidence that comes with that.

"Us as coaches, as we evaluate and we dissect the tape, we didn't believe, or I didn't believe, that that was a five-win team on the field," defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa said last week. "There's a lot of things we could have done better. I think those are all fixable things that we can do culturally and technique-wise, call-wise, now (having been) in the league, knowing the system a little bit better as a coaching staff.

"And so, that confidence started there knowing that, 'Hey, we have something here. now what can we do to make it better in the offseason and give us the year to go around it?' So, that confidence started in that fact.

"Now, the confidence started building when these guys (the defensive line) came back in January -- and I think I said this before in the spring -- when these guys came back in January, the amount of effort these guys put in and the energy, the effort, the strength coaches and what they've done since the spring, and then you fast-forward to spring ball, what they did in spring ball, it was just a cumulation of events that we were confident and then, the action of these guys made us even more confident in what we can be in this unit."

There were games Michigan State should have won last year. The coaches know that, the players know that. Now, it's about this season and what they can control.

And they'll be looking to have fewer regrets this time around.

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