Mel Tucker new HC at MSU
BREAKING: #CU coach Mel Tucker has agreed in principle to become the new head coach at #MichiganState, per sources. After Tucker turned down initial interest, MSU power brokers came back repeatedly to Tucker’s reps w/ an offer that was impossible to ignore https://t.co/qjOH0qKirQ
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 12, 2020
February 12th, 2020 at 1:26 AM ^
Athletic reporting that MSU may be offering somewhere around 5 million for Tucker with 6 million salary pool for assistants. Doubling both numbers from what he had at Colorado
February 12th, 2020 at 1:33 AM ^
5 million for a 5-7 head coach...
Well... Sparty slappies can stop wallet watching Michigan now with regards to Harbaugh.
February 12th, 2020 at 1:39 AM ^
They were going to have to overpay if they wanted to avoid going into this season with Tressel as the interim head coach.
February 12th, 2020 at 5:08 AM ^
It’s less of a problem when you look at it as getting someone to come there, but it’s more of a problem when you’re moving forward and you’re still paying the guy and his assistants that much money.
The guy has one year of head coaching experience, and he went 5-7. Which was the same record of the team the season before he took over. Looking at MSU’s roster and their schedule, 3-4 wins seems to be the ceiling. So you’re looking at a guy making $5 million/year who will have a 9-16 record going into his second year at the school? That’s definitely a steep price.
I still believe they would have been better off moving forward if they bit the bullet with Tressel and went after a guy in late November. Instead of overpaying for a huge question mark.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
Colorado scored less points than MSU and had comparable production on offense in the rugged PAC 12......
February 12th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
This is with a top 5 WR in Leviska Shenault.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Your thought process is sound here. MSU’s roster is a disaster, I think. They aren’t good. For all the platitudes saying you’re “building for the future,” MSU is staring down a really bad year with a really well-paid coach who hasn’t proven he can significantly improve a bad roster.
Fine, they’ll weather the storm next year. But a bad season loses you a lot of goodwill. We know this all too personally—RR’s 2008 season didn’t get him fired, but it did destroy the patience of the fanbase while forcing him to make a desperation DC hire that was a disaster. Elsewhere, FSU axed Willie Taggart after less than two years.
MSU is theoretically prepared for a rough season. But what happens if Michigan blows their doors off in EL? What if they lose to Rutgers? Tucker could be looking at a 2021 where there is real pressure to produce a winning season, but with a road trip to Ann Arbor and a strengthening Greg Schiano and no letup from OSU and PSU, with Indiana and Maryland looking like tough games.
Theory is nice, but $5 mil is a lot for a fanbase to swallow if they are actively embarrassed on the football field.
February 12th, 2020 at 2:30 PM ^
This is the same blog that castrates people for saying Harbaugh is overpaid when their expectations aren’t met. Their argument is that the university has plenty of money and that “we” aren’t paying his salary. I see no reason why MSU is any different. They went and yes, overpaid a coach they seemingly really want/need. I for one wish we had gone and overpaid someone before we had to settle for Brady Hoke so many years ago.
Maybe this hire works out for them, maybe it doesn’t. The “overpaid” rhetoric is only a useful tool for an unhappy fan base. All coaches who are not meeting expectations are overpaid, regardless of dollar amount.
February 12th, 2020 at 5:51 PM ^
But if you’re going to go out and overpay for a coach to rebuild your program, common sense would at least tell you that you go get a guy with a more proven track record of doing so.
Harbaugh’s large salary was justified because of his prior success in turning Stanford into a power and his success in the NFL. At over $5 million per year, you can go out and get a more proven coach. One with more than one year of experience and a better than 5-7 record.
It isn’t JUST the money and it isn’t JUST the coach. If MSU gets the guy for $3.5 million, it’s a really good hire for them. But if they’re willing to spend that type of money, they can get the type of coach that would warrant it. Or at least is closer to warranting it than Tucker.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:08 PM ^
MSU had to overpay, no matter who it was they brought in. This late in the process, when recruits have already committed, and facing possible NCAA sanctions. Only someone who is desperate for that job takes it otherwise, they were going to have to overpay. I mean, MSU essentially got a $3.5 million coach, but to get him to leave, they'd have to overpay him.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:36 PM ^
And again, if you’re going to overpay for a coach that’s one thing. But it has to be for a proven guy. Throw $7.5 at Fickell and make him say no. Aim high if you’re going to overpay. Overpaying for a major question mark isn’t a solid plan. That’s a major risk, and there’s not much that justifies making the guy a top 10 paid coach with very little merit on his resume.
If this is the best you can do at this point in time and you have to pay this much to do it, you’re better off waiting for a more opportune time to get a better candidate.
February 12th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
i agree 100%. i would have gone the tressel route for one year as an interim. let the legal issues run their course. then re-evaluate and do a real coaching search when the program isn't in desperation mode.
February 12th, 2020 at 6:49 AM ^
Let’s not talk about overpaid coaches here on this blog without looking on our own doorstep
February 12th, 2020 at 7:57 AM ^
Seems like good business to pay an extra 2.5 to get to 9-10 wins instead of 6-7.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:48 AM ^
He’s making more than Dantonio? Boy is Dantonio going to be pissed.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:51 AM ^
Yeah, he might quit when he finds out.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
... and it's a good thing Mel Tucker didn't waffle about this.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:43 AM ^
scfanblue needs some Wisconsin cheese to go with that whine.
February 12th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
His shtick is played out
February 12th, 2020 at 7:44 AM ^
I think we are burying the lead, MSU has power brokers?
February 12th, 2020 at 8:07 AM ^
Also, apparently they did want to hire a “waffling flake.”
February 12th, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
Better than a twat waffle
February 12th, 2020 at 9:51 AM ^
Tucker
February 12th, 2020 at 1:27 AM ^
Shout-out to the one guy who was posting on all the earlier threads and posts yesterday saying Mel Tucker was the guy. On God I thought he was just making some weird joke.
Regardless of State's woes earlier this week, this is a good hire. Though it's not one that changes anything for Harbaugh/UM - Tucker hasn't coached in the Big Ten since George W. Bush's first term. Just shore up in-state recruiting and Ohio recruiting for the tier 1.5-2 OH guys OSU doesn't have room for and we should be good.
No way this guy lasts 4 years in my opinion. Either A. He flames out, or B. Is successful and takes the first SEC job that comes calling a la his mentor Saban.
Edit: it was Double-D posting earlier
February 12th, 2020 at 7:00 AM ^
Tucker hasn't coached in the Big Ten since George W. Bush's first term. Just shore up in-state recruiting and Ohio recruiting
These two things would seem to work against each other.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
Michigan should shore up recruiting haha
February 12th, 2020 at 8:11 AM ^
I'm confused. He has coached one season in his life and went 5-7. Why is this considered a good hire?
February 12th, 2020 at 8:38 AM ^
I think this is a pretty good hire. He did well at Bama and Georgia. I think you have to at least view it as a similar hire to Juwan.
February 12th, 2020 at 8:55 AM ^
I guess it's fair to say Dantonio had a similar track record before he was hired.
February 12th, 2020 at 4:35 PM ^
Even less, considering Marky D was at least HC at Cinci for 3 years, one of which was Cinci's first year in the Big East.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:00 AM ^
I think overall it's the best they could have done given Fickel saying "no thanks" to the job. In reality the assistant pool is probably the biggest deal for them. If Tucker can assemble a solid staff with good recruiters (and it appears he's being given the money to make that happen) and survive a couple years of getting beat down he may do ok in the long run. He probably needs to focus everything on recruiting in the short term though, those fans will overlook the win/loss record next year if he can get a top 20 class signed on for 2021.
February 12th, 2020 at 4:10 PM ^
Juwan Howard was being interviewed for NBA coaching vacancies and was actually wanted by other teams to be a head coach. This hiring isn’t anything like Juwan
February 12th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Because he coached with Dantonio at msu and ohio state, and was a (co?)DC at osu for a few years. I don't remember him at all.
February 12th, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^
He's won two national championships (w/ OSU and Alabama), he's from the Saban coaching tree, and he has NFL experience. He's got some glaring downsides in that most of his institutional success has been when he was a DB coach and his record as a coordinator or higher is pretty bad.
That said, I'd say he's a good hire in the sense that I can't think of anyone who would've been better.
There's an argument that they should've gone with an interim for a year to try to weather the storm for a better hire in 2021, but I'd argue that their current roster is a dumpster fire and MSU can't afford to go through a recruiting cycle with an interim and if they did there's a good chance 1) they end up in a worse place in terms of attracting good candidates, and 2) next year they have to compete with better schools for HC candidates (USC, Texas, Nebraska, Miami, Houston, UCLA could all conceivably be looking for HC's next year).
February 12th, 2020 at 9:19 AM ^
Counter-strike.
February 12th, 2020 at 1:27 AM ^
This tweet did not age well:
While I am flattered to be considered for the HC job @MSU_football, I am committed to @CUBuffsFootball for #TheBuild of our program, its great athletes, coaches & supporters. #UnfinishedBusiness #GoBuffs
— Mel Tucker (@Coach_mtucker) February 8, 2020
We are #Relentless #Culture #TheBuild
February 12th, 2020 at 1:53 AM ^
Apparently Tucker was at an athletic department event for donors earlier this evening, and then took the MSU job. Not a great look.
February 12th, 2020 at 1:56 AM ^
It’s fine and dandy if you go back n forth without making a public decision but yikes.... making a public exclamation and then leaving over midnight? Lol
Meanwhile players testing the transfer portal has coaches all in a tizzy.
February 12th, 2020 at 3:17 AM ^
Really. What a waffling flake.
February 12th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Going to keep posting this all day.
February 12th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
Did you photoshop the tongue?
February 12th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
Nope... if you search "waffle guy msu" this is the first picture in google images.
And not even technically a photoshop! Did it on my work computer which doesn't have such niceties (home computer does), this is a Paint 3D special.
February 12th, 2020 at 7:00 AM ^
Money Talks!
February 12th, 2020 at 8:59 AM ^
Sounds like a low class Sparty move.
February 12th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
If someone offers you double the money with X years guaranteed it is hard to say no. MSU is a dumpster fire right now, but I think the fan base knows that. If he can get to .500 for a couple years he might be able to weather it.
February 12th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
Unfortunately, for enough reasons to fill a book, this is where we are at as a society.
February 12th, 2020 at 5:29 AM ^
Well, it did if his intent was to double his salary. $2.7 mill to $5 flattery will get you anywhere.
February 12th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
2.7 mil in Boulder doesn’t go that far.
February 12th, 2020 at 6:31 AM ^
He was upfront. He did #unfinishedbusiness. Some may have interpreted that as being at Colorado instead of personal business.
After the 2020 season he will be able to sell there is no where to go but up...maybe.
How much Colorado pay MSU to take him?