East Lansing, Mich. - When Mel Tucker adopted the "keep chopping" mantra for his players and the Michigan State program, I'm sure it didn't come off as entirely original to those of you who follow college football closely. Greg Schiano used "keep chopping" (as in chopping wood) for his program's motto at Rutgers during his first stint as head coach at the New Jersey school (2001-2011).

When Rutgers fans caught wind of Tucker's use of the motto, they took exception to it on social media, claiming the phrase as their own.

Schiano was asked about it during his press conference earlier this week.

"We've been doing 'Keep chopping' since 2005," Schiano said. "Dr. Kevin Elko is the person who gave it to me in 1999 when I was at the University of Miami.

"It’s funny how things get tucked away and then come out. That’s become much more than a word in this program. We really live by that. It’s a big part of our culture.”

Schiano smiled while giving that statement. He was respectful. But it seems clear he would like for that motto to remain Rutgers property.

Here's my take on this, with some first-hand historical perspective.

Sure, I remember Schiano's unique "keep chopping" phrase back when he was getting Rutgers started.

But earlier than that, I remember a Michigan State assistant coach using that phrase.

Brad Lawing was defensive line coach at Michigan State from 1999 to 2002. I remember interviewing him outside the Duffy Daughtery Building, as it was called back then, at the south entrance of the building, near the parking lot that enters Chestnut Road. That was back before the building was renovated. I remember right where we were standing, out on the sidewalk.

I remember the tone of the conversation and interview. MSU was coming off an unsatisfying but encouraging 2000 season. Jeff Smoker had just finished his true freshman season. Michigan State didn't earn a bowl bid, but the Spartans upset Rose Bowl-bound Purdue and knocked Drew Brees out of the Heisman Trophy race, thanks in part to the defense devised by defensive backs coach Mark Dantonio and defensive coordinator Bill Miller.

The honeymoon for first-year coach Bobby Williams was winding down in East Lansing, but Michigan State had just signed a new batch of recruits. That's what I was talking to Lawing about. Lawing was not only defensive line coach, he was also recruiting coordinator.

After summing up the recruiting class during our interview, Lawing - with his North Carolina drawl - said, "We're just gonna keep choppin' wood, keep choppin', keep choppin and pretty soon we'll have us a big ol' fire."

It was a good quote. I had never heard that phrase before, at least not in a football sense.

Then a couple years later as Schiano was starting to get more publicity and television coverage, and began winning games, I saw and discovered that he was using that phrase, complete with a chopping hand motion from the sideline. As Schiano said, it must have been 2005.

I was like, Okay, that must be becoming one of those universal coaching axioms, like: "It's not the X's and O's, it's the Jimmies and Joes." Every coach has said that one at one time or another. I figured "chopping wood" was becoming another coaching thing.

But to Schiano's credit, I never heard or saw another coach use it again, other than Schiano. It kind of became his thing. He may not have coined the phrase, but he popularized it. Does that give him sole rights to it? That's up for debate this week.

So where was Mel Tucker at this time? He had been a graduate assistant at Michigan State from 1997 to 1999. He left in 1999 to become an assistant coach for one year at Miami of Ohio. Lawing's and Tucker's paths overlapped briefly at Michigan State in 1999.

Did Tucker invent the phrase? I'm sure he didn't. Did Lawing? I'm sure he didn't. Did Schiano? He says he got it from Dr. Elko.

Elko is an author and leadership specialist who has worked with several NFL teams, and college football programs including Alabama, LSU, Florida State and Miami (where he met Schiano).

Guess who else coached at Miami from 1995 to 1998. Bill Miller.

When Nick Saban hired Miller to become Michigan State's new defensive coordinator in 1999, guess who Miami hired to replace him. You guessed it: Schiano.

Miller was another sweet-talking southerner on the Michigan State staff. He listened to Merle Haggard compact discs on his way to work and deflected credit whenever his defense had success. Somehow his 2000 unit led the Big Ten in total defense despite an avalanche of injuries and reconfigurations and iterations. I dubbed it "The Duct Tape Defense" because of the constant changes and fixes he had to conduct.

If Elko was the first to use the motto "keep chopping" and adapt it for football purposes, it's likely that Miller heard it at Miami before Schiano ever did. And Miller brought to East Lansing. And that's likely where Tucker heard it, along with Lawing and other Michigan State coaches. That’s right around the time that Golden Pat Ruel was the first to start referring to Spartan Stadium as The Woodshed.

Credit goes to Schiano for being the first head coach to tack the "Keep Chopping" motto on the front of a football program when he was at Rutgers. He had good success there, and made the motto famous, and identifiable to him.

But don't assume that Tucker stole it from Rutgers and Schiano. I heard a Michigan State assistant coach use that phrase before anyone had ever heard of Greg Schiano.