Who Will be sparty's Next Coach?
Mates,
With Tucker officially gone, sparty is in the market for a coach. Other than our coaches, I don't pay much attention to who is hot/not hot, and who would be a legitimate candidate for other jobs. With the idiotic behavior that Tucker engaged in, looking for the next sparty coach is like looking for the next person in line for the outhouse at deer camp, and the guy in front of you just destroyed it. The usual response is, 'That's okay, I'll wait, I'll let it air out a bit...'
And the pay issue. Since they gave that idiot $95MM, they have artificially raised the minimum bar for any replacement - has to be many millions inflated.
I think the sparty faithful are wanting big name guys, but unless they about doubled Tucker's salary that isn't happening. Some candidates suggested by an SI article are:
Elko - Duke; Stoops - Kentucky; Both Kansas and KSU guys; Huff - Marshall; Fritz - Tulane;
They had a few others and some coordinators including our own Sherrone Moore and ohio's Hartline. I get that money talks, but I just can't imagine many big name guys who want to move laterally to that outhouse in EL, or that want to step up to be the HC there, either. I think many will say, 'That's okay, I'll wait, I'll let it air out a bit..."
So let's have some fun speculating: Who will be sparty's next coach?
XM
Link to SI article here for those who might be curious: https://www.si.com/college/2023/09/27/mel-tucker-michigan-state-replacement-candidates-coaching-carousel
September 28th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Jake Dickert pass out at the Landshark last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
September 28th, 2023 at 2:08 PM ^
Speaking of which, is Brady in the mix fer god's sakes?
September 28th, 2023 at 10:09 AM ^
The question is whether Matt Campbell gets desperate and accepts MSU's offer.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
Either way after the run msu had from 2008-2020 their expectations are going to be unrealistic no matter who their coach is.
September 28th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
This is to me the #1 problem with the MSU job. Their fanbase might have the most unrealistic expectations in the Big Ten, especially with the expansion coming in 2024. The loss of divisions will help a little, but I am not sure the path to an expanded 12-team playoff will get any easier.
September 29th, 2023 at 6:10 PM ^
I don’t see the loss of divisions helping with the addition of USC, Oregon and Washington. Three programs who are clearly ahead of MSU and a fourth (UCLA) who is roughly on the same tier as MSU. They’re now somewhere in the 7-10 range in the conference
September 28th, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^
Can MSU just take Iowa State's place ala Conference Trap? Campbell can stay there and MSU will absorb him, MSU is gone from our hair, we can find a home for Iowa State in the friendly confines of the Big Ten, er Twenty and El Assico becomes a new Big Ten rivarly..
September 28th, 2023 at 6:37 AM ^
In terms of fit, I think you gotta go with Harvey Weinstein.
September 28th, 2023 at 7:14 AM ^
He does have an eye for talent.
September 28th, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^
One of the most amazing Harvey stories I heard was back when he was at the peak of his Hollywood power he was trying to impress some young starlet with how much influence he carried in the business. So he calls Nicolle Kidman at 2:00am (she's married to Keith Urban BTW) and tells her to come to his house immediately. And she does (allegedly).
September 28th, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
Anyone know if Taylor Lewan has any interest in coaching?
September 28th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
Yeah but those sparty fans would burn his casting couch.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:41 AM ^
Obviously Urban Meyer
/s…?
September 28th, 2023 at 6:43 AM ^
Do they still think they call Deion to make him say no?
September 28th, 2023 at 7:18 AM ^
He's not interested--his sons are at CU for another year and so is Travis Hunter. But he might well recommend his OC Sean Lewis who, if interested, would be a good choice for them. My speculative second choice would be Charles Huff of Marshall.
September 28th, 2023 at 7:29 AM ^
I just have this gut feeling they’re gonna try to spend big money on a “name” and it’s going to backfire when the results aren’t there.
September 28th, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
Possibly. Idiots will always be idiots
September 28th, 2023 at 8:40 AM ^
They tried that last time when they approached Luke Fickell and he turned them down. Was he committed indefinitely to Cincinnati? No, he left to take another B1G job at Wisconsin. I conclude that he didn't want MSU and for all we know they approached other 'name' coaches who also said No.
It stands to reason that name coaches will feel similarly put off this time if not more so, despite the dangled $$$, after the Tuck scandal. TL;DR: MSU won't be able to lure a name coach into accepting their HC job.
This will leave them with lesser known HC's and OC's (I doubt they'll go for another defensive minded HC) such as Sean Lewis, Charles Huff and others. Someone from that list will be interested in the promotion, the challenge and the $$$.
Ultimately I think whoever they hire has a very low chance of succeeding--leading MSU back to the top half or so of the B1G--as long as Michigan, OSU and PSU are rolling. Plus Wisconsin and Nebraska made solid hires and have a year head start. Gonna be really tough sledding at MSU for a while.
September 28th, 2023 at 8:56 AM ^
Fickell turned them down but he also wasn’t offered big money either. Tucker was hired at $5.5 million. What I’m saying is they’re more likely to spend $7million+ on someone like PJ Fleck and try to make a splash with the name, instead of hiring someone that will get the job done
September 28th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
Fickell apparently turned them down because his wife was appalled at the culture there with Nassar etc. He'd have been a great hire for them.
September 28th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
Does MSU still have enough rich idiots or idiotically in control board members to even raise their coaching budget if they are still spending <~$9m per year for the next 7 years for Tucker? At some point fiscal responsibility had to kick in even with those idiots and Ishbia might start to rethink this approach...
September 28th, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^
MSU fired Tucker for cause. There's going to be some legal dickering back and forth, but ultimately it would be a huge surprise if Tucker ended up receiving anything close to his contract amount.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
I think with the (now) likelihood that a BoT or associated person leaked the info that Tucker will get WAY closer to his full contract value than previously thought.
Essentially the LEAKER helped bring "ridicule to the University" (beyond Tugger's actions of course!)
September 28th, 2023 at 9:56 AM ^
I could see it one of two ways. Either they do what you said, or they drastically go in the other direction and try to find an ambitious young/unknown coach whom they can get at a bargain price in an effort to "reset" the bar they are willing to pay. The Tucker contract was SO outrageous any coach following him is going to know MSU are suckers willing to pay. MSU can either accept that, or try to recalibrate.
September 28th, 2023 at 2:14 PM ^
I have heard through unimpeachable sources that Charlie Weis is available -- and interested.
September 28th, 2023 at 9:49 PM ^
Why do you not have a sarcastic answer? That’s what we’re here for
September 28th, 2023 at 8:55 AM ^
I go back and forth between thinking that there is NO WAY they can hire him with his history, and thinking that if they want to win badly enough, they might. I think it's unlikely, and who knows if he would take the job-but for all of his many, many, MANY faults, he's a great college football coach.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
Meyer is not going to go somewhere where he has to completely rebuild an entire roster from the ground up, and that's if he even gets back into coaching at all. Whoever takes on that MSU job, that is a full-scale rebuild in every sense of the word. I have to believe at this stage in his career, Meyer would want to walk into as much of a "ready-made" situation as he could, or at least a roster with plenty of talent that he just has to mold and whip into shape.
Meyer walked into one of the most talented rosters in the country when he went to OSU, and he inherited a QB tailor-made for his system, so coupling that with his elite levels of recruiting, he could hit the ground winning and win big immediately. Same as he did with Florida. People forget that Ron Zook recruited extremely well at Florida before he left, and the core of the 2006 Florida title team was with Ron Zook's guys. So Meyer hasn't to do full-scale rebuilds in quite a while.
Meyer would absolutely be able to recruit to MSU, but he is not winning anything with that roster as its currently constructed. And he knows it. His first year would be playing a lot of transfers and a lot of freshmen, and I bet they'd show a lot of promise, but he'd lose way too much for his liking, and he'd probably flame out earlier than anticipated because of "heart issues."
September 28th, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
Remember the "health issues" he had while at Florida and at osu? I think msu would finish him off within a year.
September 28th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
At this stage in his career? That's literally all he ever did. Did he ever succeed with a roster he built from the ground up?
September 28th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
At this stage in his career? That's literally all he ever did. Did he ever succeed with a roster he built from the ground up?
September 28th, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
If you have the stomach for it stroll over to RCMB and take a peak. Urbz is definitely a board favorite over there.
What's amazing is the disconnect between how they view the attractiveness of the job and how the rest of the world sees it. MSU partisans believe it's a top 15 destination and very attractive to potential HCs. Pretty sure absent of a 90MM payday that's not the case.
September 28th, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
Maybe Saban will realize the error of his ways and go back to MSU.... /s
September 28th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
They definitely have the sense that, since they threw stupid money at Tugger, they can throw stupid money at whoever they want and that person will want to head to the landfill.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:21 AM ^
that place gives me a headache.
"And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
- Nietzsche
September 28th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
Eh, I enjoy dumping on Sparty as much as the next person, but if we're being honest it's a better job than a lot of others. Being in the B1G (and not being Rutgers) pretty much automatically makes it a top 25 job, and then you factor in that they have wealthy boosters, a (literally and figuratively) rabid fanbase, facilities, an acceptable school and alumni network, some successful guys in the NFL, etc. and it's fringe top 15.
They'll have to overpay due to the administrative dysfunction, reputation and timing, but they can and will. I don't think they settle unless they've kicked the tires on a lot of big names first.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:46 AM ^
Fringe top 15? No. Just no.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:57 AM ^
Fringe top 15? As of next year, it will not be a top 6 program in B1G. You can debate if Wisconsin or UCLA are better programs than MSU in B1G.
September 28th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
That's true about next year, but it's also arguable that as we move into the superconference era, a mid-tier B1G or SEC team will be a more desirable coaching destination, just because of resources, than virtually any other school out there. If putting together a top 15 list next year, I think the only schools in that list that wouldn't be members of the B1G or SEC would be Clemson, Florida State, and Notre Dame, and Clemson and FSU are trying to get out of the ACC as fast as they can.
Look at the polls right now. 11 of the current top 14 teams will play in either the B1G or SEC next year. The only ones who won't are #5 FSU, #10 Utah, and #11 ND. We're quickly moving into an era where those are the only conferences that will matter.
September 28th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
College football coaching jobs definitely better than MSU:
- M, OSU, Penn State, ND
- Miami, Florida, FSU
- Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Clemson
- Texas, OU, LSU
- USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington
That’s 18. Then there’s a second tier of jobs that are probably better but definitely at least as good as MSU:
- Auburn, Ole Miss, TAMU
- Utah, Cal, Stanford, CU
- Wisc., Nebraska
- UNC, Virginia Tech
That’s 11 more teams, and there’s probably a few more I am not remembering or that I don’t know enough about to include.
So MSU belongs on the next tier down, alongside programs like Boston College or S. Carolina or Arizona State. It’s a fringe top-30 job, but nowhere near the best 15.
September 28th, 2023 at 12:48 PM ^
It's a borderline top-25 job nationally IMO, but it might not even be in the top 10 in the expanded Big Ten. That is the issue to me. I would definitely rank it behind OSU, USC, Michigan, PSU, Oregon, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. I would put it on par with Iowa.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
I don't think it's clear that it is a better job than Rutgers at this point. The New Jersey area has been on the rise as a recruiting base, and fan enthusiasm and support has been increasing as well.
September 28th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
You think Urban wants to go to a place where he cannot masturbate on the phone?!
September 28th, 2023 at 9:57 AM ^
East Lansing has plenty of bars where slutty coeds are willing to grind on his crotch.
September 28th, 2023 at 11:28 AM ^
They would take Urban in a heartbeat, but he wouldn't even pick up the phone if MSU called him.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:44 AM ^
Dan Enos
September 28th, 2023 at 6:48 AM ^
hadn't thought of him. not beyond possibility, being the former sparty. where is he now?
September 28th, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^
Dan Enos is the OC / QB coach at Arkansas right now, I believe. I say "right now" because he has been known to flake, holding positions for as little as 30 minutes and as long as a full hour before.
We would never actually get any insight into this at the end of September, of course, but whoever it is, it needs to be someone who can reset the culture in a more comprehensive way, one that doesn't necessarily involve posting photos of cigar smoking or top-end automobiles.
September 28th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
It would make sense to take someone who they can get now, so they can try to hold their program and recruiting together.
That means either someone currently sidelined or someone willing to walk away from their current committment.
My recommendation is ...
... Lou Holtz! He's available, he knows how to beat OSU, and he's living in Ryan Day's head even more than Harbaugh is!
September 28th, 2023 at 10:13 AM ^
If I’m MSU AD Haller, my first call is to Dan Enos. I would want to show him how things had changed since he was a Spartan. That’s right, I would FaceTime Enos. And he knows why I’m calling, there’s no need to beat around the bush. But I need the Trustees to think I’m doing my job, so I make him a low-ball offer. I let him chew on that a little. After some back and forth, I hit him with the offer, $6.9M per year. I said it, I’m offering 6.9 to Enos. But I tell him that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He gets the whole shebang: assistant salaries, private jet, etc. And we’ve got a ready-to-go marketing campaign, just replace Tucker with Enos. Yep, Enos Comin’!