East Lansing, Mich. – Student athletes have had many reasons for taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility awarded in college athletics because of COVID-19.

Tight end Tyler Hunt’s reason for returning to Michigan State for a sixth season as a graduate senior is a simple one. He wants a full, healthy year played at the best of his abilities. He’s curious how far that will take him, and how much it could help Michigan State because he believes we still haven’t seen the best of him.

Hunt, who has only finished one season healthy since his arrival from Gobles, Mich. as a walk-on in 2017, after converting from punter to tight end in 2020, was forced to watch his teammates earn a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory from the sidelines after a lower body injury cost him a chance to play in the postseasason.

So, he’s back to take care of some unfinished business.

“It was a pretty easy one for me,’’ Hunt said of his decision to return. “Obviously, I didn’t finish out last year due to injuries and stuff. So I wanted to come back (because) I don’t think I’ve had a 100 percent healthy season since I’ve been here. So I wanted to get the things fixed that I needed to get fixed and come back and give Spartan fans 100 percent of me.

“Since I’ve been here and started playing and contributing to the team, I haven’t really been able to finish a season. I haven’t been 100 percent for a whole season. Finishing up the whole season is something I want to be able to bring to the table this year and go out on a positive note here.’’

Hunt played in 11 of the Spartans’ 13 games in 2021, compiling career highs in both snaps at 385, and catches at 14 for 136 yards with one touchdown.

He enters his final season at MSU having played in 34 games with seven career starts. For his career, as a receiver, he has 22 receptions for 214 yards and one TD.

He also has the distinction of scoring the team’s only rushing touchdown in the 2020 COVID-shortened season, on a short end around.

But Hunt wants more. His coaches think he can give it.

“Obviously, getting T-Hunt (Tyler Hunt) to come back, I think, is huge for us,’’ said tight ends coach Ted Gilmore, who wants Hunt to play at around 240 to 245 pounds this season. “To watch his growth from where he was three years ago moving from the punter position to now, he understands it all and he’s actually helping me coach out there.

“He’s healthy, which is huge, and I think because he truly understands the big picture now, and the games a lot slower for him, he’s in a better position to do his job. That’s the biggest thing that’s going to help him.’’

Hunt said he got up to 255 pounds during his downtime after surgery with a little help from the Chick-Fil-A menu, but also knew that it wasn’t good weight. So now, at 245, he feels that he’ll be able to conquer the battles he wasn’t able to withstand on the line when he first played tight end played at a svelte 216 during his first year at the position in 2020. Two years earlier, he started five games as the team’s punter, averaging 40.1 per attempt.

He has methodically gone from being a punter trying to play tight end, to a legitimate tight end - with the blocking piece showing signs of taking a step this fall.

“I’m definitely a little more sturdy in the run game,’’ said Hunt, who listed the 10-piece chicken nuggets with mac and cheese and buffalo sauce as a favorite item at Chick-fil-A that he can no longer indulge in. “Now, I’m at the weight I think I can play at and not lose anything coming out of my breaks in the pass game.’’

While Hunt will look to stay healthy for an entire season, he’s also relishing the fact that he’s become a better player and contributor at his position.

“Now, being year three, I know the playbook, inside and out and I’ve got the technique down,” said Hunt, who graduated with a degree in agribusiness in 2021. “Just being more aggressive this year I think is where I can really take strides. In really trying to move those defensive ends and winning more one-on-one blocks against them is something that I look forward to and hope that I can progress and be more aggressive in that aspect.’’