The coaching carousel that has occurred all over the country has impacted numerous recruits. Michigan State has had the benefit of having a very stable staff since the arrival of Head Coach Mark Dantonio back in 2007. One player Coach Dantonio and the Spartan staff covet for the class of 2013 is lineman Matt Miller of St. John's High School in Ohio. Could he be back on the market?


Miller is a player the Spartans staff offered early on in the recruiting process back in February. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound prospect ended up committing to the Wisconsin Badgers in late June over scholarship offers from Michigan State, Miami of Florida, Illinois, Purdue and Boston College to name a few.

The recent departure of Head Coach Brett Bielema from Wisconsin to Arkansas certainly came as a surprise to Miller and the rest of the college football world. Not long after the news broke that Bielema was leaving Madison, several teams reached out to Miller and inquired about his status. He talked with SpartanMag.com about that.

"Michigan State and Ohio State both reached out and made contact with me." Miller said. "Neither one was disrespectful nor pushed me toward anything, they just wanted me to understand that they were still very interested in me if anything changes."

The Spartans would like to add another offensive lineman to this class, but only if it is the right player. Miller, along with David Dawson of Detroit Cass Tch High School, are examples of players that the Spartans would certainly like to see end up in Green and White. We asked Miller about his current status as far as his recruitment.

"I am still 100% committed to Wisconsin," he stated. "I still feel very comfortable with my commitment there. The only way things will change is if I am not comfortable."

Miller actually took his visit to Wisconsin this past weekend and was able to meet with "interim" Head Coach Barry Alvarez. Coach Alvarez did a solid job of communicating the direction of Wisconsin football to all of the players that were on campus.

The Badgers are not expected to select a potential replacement until after the Rose Bowl. Who that choice is could impact the decision making process of several players, but as of right now Miller along with the majority of the Badger class are holding fast to their commitments.

SpartanMag.com will continue to monitor this situation and will check back with Miller after he gets a chance to speak with the next head coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Matt Dorsey's Take: Miller is a player that was high on the Spartan board and they were obviously wise to reach out to him with the coaching change. The firing of Frank Spaziani at Boston College allowed the Spartans to get the #1 kicker in the nation. Wisconsin football has been known for its smash mouth offense over the past decade and much of that success was predicated on Bielema and former offensive line Coach Paul Chryst building on the foundation established by Barry Alvarez. Coach Alvarez will certainly try and hire somebody who can continue that tradition, though it might not be as easy a task considering many of the top coaching candidates have already taken other positions.


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