When Michigan State linebacker Ed Davis went down with a season-ending knee injury in fall camp last year, it was considered a major blow. A possible All-B1G candidate, Davis was primed to be one of the veteran leaders of MSU’s stout defense.

At the time, the only silver lining was the belief that Davis would likely get a sixth year of eligibility.

But with fall camp underway, there’s still no guarantee that’ll happen. Davis is technically not an MSU football player while he waits on his status to be determined by the NCAA.

The deal was pretty simple. Mark Dantonio said that Davis had to graduate from MSU with his undergraduate sociology degree to get another season with the Spartans. That meant two sessions of summer school had to be completed before he’d find out if his career would last another season.

Unfortunately for Davis, that day won’t come until Aug. 18. Until then, he’ll be a student coach.

“A very fast coach,” Dantonio added.

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Dantonio was confident back in June that Davis would complete his requirement and go back to his starting strong-side linebacker position for one more year.

The Spartans certainly wouldn’t mind adding another veteran to a defense that lost plenty of playmakers to the NFL. Davis showed his impact in 2014 when he racked up 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks. He earned All-B1G honorable mention honors for his breakout junior season.

As it stands, MSU still boasts one of the conference’s best group of linebackers. Senior Riley Bullough was a second-team All-B1G selection last year while Jon Reschke emerged down the stretch in place of Davis. If Davis does return, Reschke would likely move to weak-side linebacker and talented sophomore Andrew Dowell — currently listed as the starter — would be the backup.

Davis would get roughly two weeks to be a full participant in practice if he is granted his sixth year. If for whatever reason he isn’t, it’d be even tougher news for the Spartans to get on Davis than the news they got last August.