East Lansing, Mich. - Any speculation that Mel Tucker wants to change Spartan Stadium’s playing surface from natural grass to artificial turf was put to rest on Wednesday when MSU’s head coach basically said he was neutral on the subject.

During a guest segment on the Lansing-based “Staudt on Sports” radio show, Wednesday, host Tim Staudt asked Tucker whether he is in favor of changing Spartan Stadium’s field from natural grass to an artificial surface, a viewpoint that was attributed to Tucker in recent weeks by Trey Rogers, MSU’s guru of turfgrass management and professor of plant, soil and microbial sciences.

Tucker may have shared that preference with Rogers and his staff at some point, but Tucker isn’t married to it.

“Whatever is best for the athletic department, I’m all for it,” Tucker said. “It’s not my call, really. I can see why there might be thoughts to maybe have turf, because you can use the venue more if it’s not grass. I could see that. You could hold more events there.

“Sometimes you have the high school events and even some postseason things.”

There have been no indications from Michigan State's athletic department or administration that changes are being considered.

Spartan Stadium used various forms of artificial turf from 1969 to 2001. Natural grass was installed in 2002, amid fanfare from Michigan State backers. Natural grass remains popular with fans and key administrators at the university.

Spartan Stadium’s natural grass surface is one of just four collegiate football fields in the country to win Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) Field of the Year honors twice (2005 and 2016).

Michigan State replaced a modular grass field system with a conventional grass field in 2019, with expectations that the Kentucky bluegrass surface will grow stronger as it matures.

“I just want to get out there and play,” Tucker said. “Whether it’s grass or turf, I’m good.”

Spartan Stadium’s natural grass will be put to use this Saturday when Michigan State plays host to the annual spring scrimmage at 2 p.m.

The Spartans will conduct practice drills for the first half of the event, and then there will be live scrimmaging for the second half.

“We’re going to have some competitive periods out there on Saturday," Tucker said. "It’s just not going to be a game format."

Tucker said he would prefer to have a traditional scrimmage, with score being kept, if Michigan State had the roster depth to do so. However, Michigan State is short on offensive linemen this spring, making a traditional spring game impractical.

“If we had a full roster available of offensive linemen, we would go out there and have a game,” Tucker said. “We would divide the team up and we would go out there and get after it. That’s a game-like atmosphere in The Woodshed, at Spartan Stadium. We don’t get many opportunities to do that outside of the regular season. So any time we can get in our stadium with a lot of fans and have a game-like situation, I’m all for it.”

Tucker is hoping to have a traditional spring game format in the future.

“If our roster will allow us to do that and we have the players available, I would love to do that,” he said.