The prize is in the journey: How Bryce Baringer worked his way into a key role for Michigan St

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bryce Baringer briefly glances down at the bracelet on his right wrist, as he shares the story of how he got here. It was given to him as a gift, years ago. It offers words to live by. A guiding message. A constant reminder of life, loss and the moments he decided were worth pursuing.

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The bracelet reads, “The prize is in the journey.” Baringer knows this all too well.

“I never take the bracelet off,” he says, lifting his wrist for all to see.

Baringer was not supposed to be here. A starting punter at Michigan State, a key contributor on a ranked, undefeated team one month into the season. It seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. That’s where you have to start to get the true essence of his story and the twists and turns that come with it.

It was the 2018 college football season, and Baringer was a sophomore at Michigan State. Back then, he was just a regular student. He was going to class, meeting new people, expanding his horizons and going through everything else that comes with the college experience.

That is, until he got a call from Michigan State’s coaches. They wanted him to join the football team.

A native of Waterford, Mich., who played at nearby Notre Dame Prep High School, Baringer started punting in December of his junior year of high school. He attended various kicking camps the following summer, hoping to improve his game and gain the exposure needed to earn a spot on a team. That led him to Illinois, where he spent his freshman year of college as a walk-on punter, never appearing in a game.

Baringer had enough skill to make a Power 5 roster, but his path to playing time was not guaranteed. Already paying out of pocket to attend Illinois, Baringer came to the realization that it wasn’t where he wanted to be. At the end of the season, before his second semester, Baringer transferred to Michigan State — without the promise of a spot on the team.

“I wanted to come here because this is where I wanted to come out of high school,” Baringer said in 2018. “If I didn’t play a sport, I wanted to be at Michigan State.”

Upon transferring to MSU, Baringer participated in a few walk-on tryouts. There was one in January of his freshman year and another in the fall of his sophomore year. It was a long shot, but his goal was to let coaches know he was available should they need him. After each tryout, Baringer was told to sit tight and keep working. There simply wasn’t a spot for him at the time.

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But that changed early in the 2018 season. Michigan State’s starting punter, Jake Hartbarger, suffered a leg injury against Arizona State in Week 2 of the season. Away from the team, watching from his couch, Baringer knew the severity of Hartbarger’s injury right then and there. He had seen the same injury happen to others and knew it would be an extended absence. Mark Dantonio informed reporters the following Tuesday that Hartbarger would be out for the season, meaning Michigan State would need to look elsewhere for help at punter. Backup punter Tyler Hunt later tore his ACL. Another season-ending injury.

As MSU sorted out its punter situation, Baringer was only a phone call away. He was waiting.

“The coaches were great,” Baringer said. “They just told me to kind of stay ready, stay mentally focused. Just kinda practice and work on punting and everything throughout the summer, so I did. They said, ‘Come back in the fall.’ So, I came back in the fall, and I showed them what I can do, and now I’m here.”

During his first season at Michigan State, Baringer’s on-field production didn’t match the feel-good nature of his story, averaging 32.4 yards per punt in four games. It was a solid effort, under the circumstances, but Michigan State had help on the way.

Before the 2019 season, MSU coaches explained to Baringer what the plan was for the upcoming year. Hartbarger received a medical redshirt and was able to return for another season after making a full recovery. Hunt was back as depth after tearing his ACL. And Australian punter Jack Bouwmeester was offered a scholarship and joined Michigan State’s 2019 recruiting class. He was viewed as the team’s punter of the future.

Baringer was the odd man out. He saw it coming.

“We didn’t have the numbers, and I knew that,” Baringer said. “It’s a business. I mean, it is what it is, and there’s never anything wrong with that by any means. Coach D and coach (Mike) Tressel and coach (Mark) Staten, they said, ‘We appreciate everything you’ve done, and you’ll do more. But just trust yourself.'”

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That trust is what carried Baringer through that transition period. He kept lifting, hoping to gain strength to maximize his leg. He practiced his technique by launching footballs on the fields outside of Munn Ice Arena, a short walk from Spartan Stadium. He worked to stay ready in the event his number was called again.

In the meantime, Baringer found a way to be a part of the team, even though he wasn’t on the roster. Twice a week that fall, he took photos of his former teammates during practice and on game days. His photos were used for the team website and its various social media platforms.

It’s not often you see a player go from on-field contributor to behind-the-scenes photographer, but that’s part of Baringer’s journey as he switched from special teams to the creative team. It speaks to how he’d do anything to remain involved.

“He had a lot of interest in what we were doing,” MSU creative director Blaze Watson said. “He came in, and he hung out with us. We gave him a camera to shoot some photos on the sideline on game days and stuff. It was a cool opportunity for him just because he wanted to be around the team still and wanted to be with the guys.”

Even during the time Baringer spent away from the team, Michigan State’s coaching staff took note of his dedication to the sport. The coaches also knew they would have an opening at punter with Hartbarger set to graduate. It opened the door for a potential return.

A few weeks before his retirement, Dantonio asked Baringer to re-join the football team. It was a testament to the work Baringer put in, staying ready until it was his time. After Dantonio stepped down later that offseason, incoming head coach Mel Tucker vowed to give everyone a fair shake during his first season. He did the same with Baringer.

Baringer found himself in a battle for playing time with UTEP graduate transfer Mitchell Crawford. Both punters received reps in games, but Baringer eventually seized the job. Even though he struggled with consistency, the new coaching staff liked enough of what it saw from Baringer that it welcomed him back for another season and opted not to pursue a starting-caliber punter out of the portal and didn’t sign one during the 2021 recruiting cycle.

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That’s because Baringer worked to improve this offseason. He’s stronger now than he was when he first arrived at Michigan State. With a regular offseason ahead of him, he spent extra time working on his mechanics, hang time, directional consistency and spiral. His goal was to eliminate bad balls from his game. He credits special-teams coordinator Ross Els, along with special-teams analyst Dalmin Gibson and intern Kenny Spencer, for helping him become more consistent and maximizing his leg talent.

For the first time at this level, Baringer had a clear path to playing time. No more looking over his shoulder. No more wondering what was next or if he would even have a spot on the roster. This was his job and no one else’s.

Baringer was placed on scholarship during preseason camp, locking down the job as the team’s unquestioned starting punter.

Congrats again man on being awarded a scholarship! Well deserved and earned! Like the great Mike Sadler always said, “The prize is in the journey”. https://t.co/qBrmfkAnnj

— Darien Harris (@DHarris_45) September 1, 2021

Each Friday night before a home game, Michigan State stays at the nearby Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center as a team. As players made their way inside the hotel this past Friday, Baringer saw Karen Sadler, the mother of former MSU punter Mike Sadler. She was in town for the upcoming game against Nebraska. She was on her way out as Baringer was on his way in, but she made sure to say hello to a familiar face in Baringer — whom her son had a direct impact on.

Sadler was known by many as an All-America punter with pinpoint precision and touch. He was an exceptionally bright student, a four-time Academic All-American, and he also happened to be one of the team’s funniest players — a combination that endeared him to his teammates, coaches, family, friends and MSU fans alike.

Years ago, Sadler stood in the team meeting room inside the Skandalaris Football Center — the same place where Baringer shared his own story Wednesday afternoon — and read his senior speech. This was something all of Dantonio’s seniors had to do before the start of their final year on campus. It was the summer of 2014, and Michigan State was coming off of its first Rose Bowl appearance, and win, since 1988.

That group of seniors helped change the perception of what this Michigan State football program could accomplish in the modern era. Sadler played a huge role in that success. And he wanted the younger guys coming up behind him to know that they could do the same.

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“When you get here, everyone has a clean slate,” Sadler told the team. “You’re all starting at square one. You’ve got four years to be up here, and what you do with those four years really determines your legacy and how you’re going to be remembered. It’s all up to you to seize the opportunity and make the most of it.

“I think the real prize might not be in the destination. But the journey itself.”

Those words have become a guiding light for many who knew Sadler, in the years since his death. On July 23, 2016, Sadler was killed in a car accident along with Nebraska punter Sam Foltz. Sadler’s death rocked the Michigan State community and those back in his hometown of Grand Rapids.

Sadler was a few weeks away from beginning law school at Stanford. While he was a couple of years removed from football, he spent his final days at a national kicking camp in Wisconsin, serving as an assistant staff member and mentoring a new generation of kickers and punters. A beloved teammate, son and Spartans player, Sadler left an impact on most people he crossed paths with. That includes Baringer.

Baringer knew Sadler. He watched him star at Michigan State. The two developed a relationship when Baringer was a high school punting prospect trying to make a name for himself. Always searching for ways to improve, Baringer attended a number of kicking camps for advice on how to become a better player. He was at the camp in Wisconsin when Sadler was killed.

Ever since then, Baringer has tried to live by Sadler’s words.

“A few years ago, we got these wristbands,” Baringer said, holding his wrist. “He actually stood in this very spot, did his senior speech, and he always said, ‘The prize is in the journey.’ I’ve tried to live that throughout my whole experience. It’s been an up and down journey, but those trials and tribulations make you become the person you want to be.”

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On the day of Michigan State’s game against Nebraska, as the lives of Sadler and Foltz were honored and celebrated, Karen Sadler saw Baringer on the sideline during the pregame warmups and gave him a hug. She knew the relationship he had with her son and the work Baringer put in to even be in this position.

Right then and there, she whispered a message to him ahead of the game.

“Mike’s with you,” Karen Sadler told Baringer.

“I know,” Baringer said back. “We got this.”

It was fitting, then, to see Baringer take the field that night and have the game of his life. All night long, Baringer was a weapon for Michigan State. He had punts of 67, 66 and 65. He twice pinned Nebraska inside its own 10-yard line. He averaged 58.8 yards per punt, routinely flipping the field on a night when Michigan State’s offense struggled to move the ball in the second half and needed a boost from its punting unit to make things difficult for Nebraska’s offense.

Each time, Baringer delivered. Michigan State won 23-20 in overtime. Baringer believes he had an assist from an old friend.

“Every time I went out there,” Baringer said of Sadler, “it felt like I had a little piece of him with me.”

What Baringer has done for this football team should not go unnoticed. He ranks among the top 10 punters in yards per punt. As a team, Michigan State’s ranks third nationally in punt efficiency and 10th in defensive field position, per FootballOutsiders. All this to say, Baringer and company are getting the job done.

On scholarship, playing the best football of his life, at the place he always has wanted to be, Baringer’s prize for the time put in at Michigan State has been the journey itself. Few in his position would’ve made it as far as he has without the promise of better days ahead. It required patience, flexibility and a relentless belief that his time would come eventually.

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“There’s always a plan,” Baringer said. “It might not be the plan that you want at that moment, but it can always work out in the end. I was very thankful to be brought back on. I’ve just tried to make the most of that opportunity.”

When he looks down at his wrist, he knows it all has been worth it.

(Top photo courtesy of Michigan State Athletics)

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