Redshirt junior running back Nate Carter, like many returning players on Michigan State's roster, is looking to make an impact on the Spartans' offense next fall as the program enters a new era under Jonathan Smith.
With all of the outside noise surrounding the team last season, and a new regime heading in, he could have hit the transfer portal, gotten a fresh start, and perhaps found himself with a more established regime. But Carter remained committed to the process.
He said after the Penn State game to finish the 2023 season, he decided to stay at MSU and do what he could to get other players to do the same.
"Nobody knew what was next at that time," Carter said about the end of the 2023 season. "I was just keeping hope in who we were going to hire and who the team was going to be. You know, do my part as a teammate to see what I could do to keep guys together, and keep them believing in the mission that we have."
Carter also said he never wavered in his belief that MSU was the right program for him, regardless of who was at the helm.
"I always tell guys you always want to go to a school where, if football was taken away from you, you would still want to go to that school," Carter said. "And Michigan State is that school for me."
Now in the first spring of the Jonathan Smith era, Carter said growth with both skill positions and in the trenches will be key this spring for the Spartans to start right in the new era. He also noted a focus on vision as the ball carriers gear up for next season.
"Coach KB [Keith Bhonapha] has done a really good job of coaching us as running backs to make sure that we're really using our eyes in the run game, not just being robots as he says, and just running down the field," Carter explained.
Carter was asked what it's like having an offensive-minded head coach in Smith compared to defensive-minded head coaches in Mel Tucker and Harlon Barnett. He said, unsurprisingly, the biggest difference is an emphasis on offense early on in the spring.
"Offense is heavy," Carter elaborated. "I wouldn't say that the defense doesn't get love, too, but you can just see how the offense has just more explosiveness and how it's changed from years past. We've had a lot of explosive plays and a lot of explosive runs."
"You can see that the culture of our offense has changed," Carter later added.
Part of that change comes with a new system, and the Spartans' presumed starting quarterback Aidan Chiles knows the system well after transferring in from Oregon State. Carter said Chiles' familiarity with the new scheme can help speed up the offense's ability to take it all in quicker.
"It helps us because no one knows what other people's jobs are," Carter said. "He can help us see it how he sees it as a quarterback."
Carter noted that other transfers with familiarity, like offensive lineman Tanner Miller and tight end Jack Velling, have also been resources for players to help familiarize themselves with the new system.
Carter led the Spartans in rushing yards (798), carries (185), rushing touchdowns (four) and all-purpose yards (901) in 2023. He will likely be the number-one option for the team at the position in the fall, but Jalen Berger and Jaren Mangham are expected to be in the rotation as well.
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