Michigan State football: Loss of 4-star OL Andrew Dennis hurts, but was expected

Michigan State football was dealt yet another blow on Monday afternoon as four-star offensive lineman Andrew Dennis decommitted.

For the second day in a row, the 2024 Michigan State football recruiting class shrunk. On Sunday, it was three-star defensive back Syair Torrence who reopened his recruitment and on Monday, it was four-star lineman Andrew Dennis.

And I’ll admit it: this one hurts.

Losing any commitments definitely puts a damper on things, but Dennis was the presumed leader of the class and he was the guy who made his way to East Lansing for every official visit weekend in the summer to help recruit his peers. He was all-in on the Spartans and it looked like he was going to be a fan favorite, but he decided to open things back up on Monday after a tumultuous fall for Michigan State football.

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— Andrew (AJ) Dennis (@andrewdennis_08) October 16, 2023

Honestly, you can’t blame the kid. He gave everything he had to helping the program over the past year since he committed and seeing what happened with Mel Tucker probably turned his world upside down. This whole situation is tough for these kids because they developed relationships with the coaching staff and it seemed like they’d be there for a while. But following Tucker’s departure, Dennis’ primary recruiter, Chris Kapilovic, will likely be at a new school next year as well.

It’s tough to stay invested when you don’t know who the next coach will be. This is an expected precautionary step for Dennis as he’ll still be considering Michigan State but he has to look out for himself, too.

This is not a shocking move either. Dennis was one of the highest-rated commits in Michigan State’s 2024 class and he received an influx of offers following the Tucker news back in September. He’s expected to be in East Lansing for the Michigan game this weekend, but that may change now that he’s officially a “former commit”.

Hopefully the next coach can get Dennis to rejoin the Spartans’ 2024 class.