A new regime in East Lansing brings fresh minds on both sides of the ball to complement Jonathan Smith’s vision for the Michigan State program. Particularly on offense, change is welcomed with open arms by fans after the last couple years that were stained with inconsistency and a glaring lack of identity under the previous coaching staff.

New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren has been encouraged so far by the progress the team has made in adjusting to a new offense throughout the spring practices thus far.

“The guys have had an awesome attitude and they’ve been working hard at it," Lindgren said last week. "Like I said, we have been throwing a lot at them."

Lindgren spoke with the media last week after the team went through its first live scrimmage, one that naturally saw its fair share of mistakes for a team that is adjusting to a new scheme. But the opportunity for coaches to see what they have in a more controlled scrimmage setting was exciting for everyone involved.

“It's fun to see the guys' excitement out of it," Lindgren said on the task of teaching the new offense to this group. "We are trying to sell it as there are a lot of opportunities to make plays, create explosives, score points and have fun doing it."

Notably, following Lindgren's comments last Tuesday, Michigan State had its second scrimmage this past Saturday. It was played inside of Spartan Stadium.

Although a handful of coaches and players came in with experience in the offense, it’s been a learning experience for most others.

“You've got to remember, 'Hey this is this guy's first time running this play,'" Lindgren noted. "Sometimes our expectations might be a little too high for the first time he's doing it."

Building that trust on both sides of the ball is really the initial step for the new staff, especially for a team that is mostly conditioned to a different way of doing things. What Smith, Lindgren and the other coaches do bring over is a proven track record of building a program from the bottom up and creating a culture of consistency. Several members of Michigan State's coaching staff were able to successfully do just that at Oregon State.

Still, the coaches are aware that the adjustment isn’t something that will happen overnight.

“I think there are some things you want, at least situationally, that you would love to see them be able to stick with," Lindgren said. "But there are some new schemes and new techniques and a detail here and there that's different. It isn't going to look perfect the first couple of times … I think those guys have been able to see the progress a little bit, where they're buying into it.”