Mel Tucker's Hopeless Task
I've never had any feelings about Mel Tucker one way or the other. Until February he was never on my radar. A mediocre DC in the NFL. Did his one year rehab with Nick Saban. Overlooking the dick move of dumping Colorado after one season to double his income, he has walked into an impossible situation. Hired late, cupboard bare (all hail Mark Dantonio), spring football cancelled, recruiting for 2021 severely curtailed and likely to be abysmal. They will be lucky to win a game this season. That makes 2022 recruiting absolutely critical and there is no way Mel will pull a Top 10 class so Sparty will be circling the drain of permanent mediocrity. At best. And in 2024 Mel will need another rehab with Saban.
Dantonio once said "it’s not over and it’ll never be over here. It’s just starting." Sorry Mark. It's over. And it ain't coming back because you quit three years before you retired. And left Mel Tucker with a steaming turd on the 50 yard line. Pride cometh before the fall, indeed.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:25 PM ^
Didnt he spend a couple of his fall practices just focusing on conditioning? Team sure looked undercoached last week
October 28th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
Think they really thought (read = hoped) that the season would be cancelled. With that in mind they focused on what apparently was lackluster strength and conditioning during that delay period while M and OSU etc. kept practicing. -- Yes I thought it showed last week at least compared to M and Rutgers.
October 29th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
Maybe. But they played better in the 4th which is when you would expect them to fade physically.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
Moving to a new job to double your income is a dick move?
October 28th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
That's not the dick part. The timing was really late, after he'd signed his recruits who all were told he's staying all the way up to the moment he wasn't.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:38 PM ^
Yeah, hard to fault a guy for doubling his salary, inspite of the late turnabout and walking out on 110 SAs. I'm just a teacher, but if you offered to double my salary for the same work conditions, I'd walk out in the middle of class LOL.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
Even if you were already making $2.5 million? Even if you had already promised kids and their families (to their faces) you weren't going anywhere just a month before? You would think a guy could afford to have integrity making $2.5 million per year for 5 years.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:59 PM ^
That's a lot of loyalty you're expecting after 1 year with an AD and a recruiting class. He also brought many of his assistance and got them raises as well. I'd say he did right by his family and those assistants. It wasn't ideal but it was unusual circumstances brought about by Dantonio. The dick move is definitely MD's and Tucker was just part of the collateral damage.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:01 PM ^
Yeah. Doubling your salary is awesome but when you're already making seven figures, it's not really life-changing at that point.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:08 PM ^
Although if you did a ten year cost benefit analysis he may have made both a financial miscalculation as well as an enjoyment of life miscalculation.
Three years salary and agony as MSUs Head Coach followed by seven years salary and anonymity as a P5 assistant vs Ten years salary and the easier road as Colorado’s Head Coach.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:10 PM ^
That too. MSU is a trap of a job right now, with high expectations and low talent.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
Plus, as much as I love my state, how awesome would it be to be a millionaire living in freaking Boulder, CO.
October 28th, 2020 at 6:18 PM ^
Yeah, no comparison between Boulder and Lansing. Just not even close
October 28th, 2020 at 5:11 PM ^
LOL integrity don't pay the bills, and even if you have no depts at 2.5M/year, another 2.5M/year is a SHITLOAD of money.
The cognitive dissonance people in America (of all places) have regarding money is amazing. You can pretend that you'd play the integrity card in a hypotheical, but for me, I'll tell you that there's a VERY short list of things I *wouldn't* do to double a salary (assuming it's a simple job swap).
October 28th, 2020 at 5:16 PM ^
It's interesting, because a lot of peoples' decisions (and votes) seem to be centered around the idea that there's a chance someone might walk up to them on the street and just offer them a job that pays 2.5M a year.
October 28th, 2020 at 7:35 PM ^
Can my vote be bought for $2.5M a year? Damn right, it can.
October 28th, 2020 at 8:27 PM ^
Don't tax multi-millionaires, that might randomly and inexplicably be ME one day!
October 28th, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
Ironic comment. It's your party that keeps thinking you're getting free stuff and an easy ride from the govt if you vote them in.
October 29th, 2020 at 1:56 AM ^
Well that's about a stupid fucking comment. Unless you misspoke and you were referring to the mountains of corporate handouts?
I think most of us are aware of the increased tax burden that are associated with democratic social programs. We are also generally OK with them because the benefit has been proven to far outweigh the cost.
I mean, the data is there, this isn't really one of those hypothetical situations.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
User name checks out - JUST KIDDING.
I actually agree with you as what people do not appreciate is the high turnover in these coaching jobs. Unlike being a school teacher, where unless you are caught having an affair with a student, you literally have lifetime employment.
In coaching, your fate is at the hands of 85 18 - 22 year old kids and how well they play a game. Not real job security.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
Not literally. As a teacher, you've got to earn tenure before you're secure in your job. Nowadays that typically takes about five years. A lot of young teachers don't survive that far. Beyond that, you're pretty safe, because you're entitled to due process, but if the district is in financial trouble you might still be laid off.
If you are in a private or charter school, you almost certainly never have that security.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:30 PM ^
You should research Michigan football history and Texas A & M's wooing of Bo Schembechler.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
If making another 2.5 million a year means I have no integrity, so be it. PAY ME!!
October 28th, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
2.5 million? Hell, I can have no integrity for a lot less than that!
October 28th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
I can understand the move, but I also think it says something about his character which, when your job largely involves getting 18 y/o kids (and their parents) to trust you enough to give you 4-5 years of their life, might backfire on him.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:02 PM ^
Right there with you. I’d pull a (now looking like a future senator) Tommy Tuberville
October 28th, 2020 at 8:06 PM ^
You're not "just a teacher". Teachers are typically among the hardest working members of the workforce, and are stepping up even bigger this year. Salud.
October 29th, 2020 at 7:26 AM ^
That's a nice sentiment, but I can confirm that teachers are just teachers. People loathe teachers and I waste a huge chunk of my time doing BS as part of a systemic devaluation of the profession. As soon as people learned they can disparage teachers by throwing the word union into the sentence it's been a steady decline.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
His family probably would have considered him a dick if he hadn't taken MSU's offer. His contract is ridiculous. And he was given a butt load of money for assistant coaches. Maybe he felt like he had a better chance to be successful at MSU over Colorado given the recent success they had under Dantonio, and his success there with Saban. There wasn't really any way he could have known what a shit show that place had become, especially if MSU gave him an ultimatum.
Doesn't really matter though. MSU's athletic department admin is a mess, and they desperately wanted a "name" guy that would appease boosters and season ticket holders. They made a desperate move that will likely sink their program for years to come.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
If so, I sure wish I was a dick!
October 28th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
It's obviously understandable and SOP for many coaches. It's also a dick move.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:27 PM ^
***fart noises***
October 28th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
He should be ashamed to show his face.
(Too soon?)
October 28th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
This is not a shot at Mel. He'll probably get fired, partly because of the reasons stated in this post, partly because he's just not a dynamic head coach.
Then MSU will probably do what they should have done to begin with and hire Chris Creighton and their actual rebuild will begin.
They are going to be awful for the next few years. Not entirely Mel's fault, but I would be surprised to see them get ahead of Maryland in the East, let alone back to the UM/PSU level
October 29th, 2020 at 12:01 AM ^
They should have paid the money for Fickell.
He would do "okay" at MSU by their standards. That is whaat they are staring down for the coming decade.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
+1 for circling the drain reference.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:34 PM ^
I'm a Bears fan. From 2000 to now we've had one pathetic defensive unit. It was the Mel Tucker DC stint. It wasn't talent related -- Lovie Smith's defenses were dominant before Tucker arrive, and Vic Fangio's defense was dominant as soon as Mel left. Worst Bears coach/coordinator I've seen, and we've had some AWFUL ones.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:43 PM ^
So mediocre was an exaggeration, eh? Somehow seems appropriate. Got the Bears gig after poor runs in Cleveland and Jacksonville.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:54 PM ^
It's one thing when Pep Hamilton is your OC. It's another thing when you hire him as your HC.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:36 PM ^
To Dantonio's credit, he was right. It will never be over. Not literally and forever. But it will be a decade before the next competitive streak can show.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:36 PM ^
This post is unremarkable aside from the misspelling of Mork Dantoni.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:41 PM ^
Heh! It is truly an unreMARKable post. Of no significance whatsoever except smirking at Sparty's downfall.
October 28th, 2020 at 4:49 PM ^
you are being so unfair to our friends in EL. i think this is callous and uncalled for.
no. wait. no i don't. i think it's really fun but only because they talked so much smack during their moment in the sun. it's a lesson not to talk trash or be proud - you could wind up looking like a giant 2020, kind of like the 'sparty nation', walking down the street, tail between your legs, no job, no coach, no offense or defense, no talent, no recruiting, and a college entrance exam that consists of fogging a mirror.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:09 PM ^
C'mon, dude. If you are going to correct somebody, don't misspell it yourself:
Nork D'antorini.
October 28th, 2020 at 5:29 PM ^
In the same "Mork Dantoni" vein, how soon before this place comes up with a misspelling of Tucker's name that ends up replacing his real one?
October 28th, 2020 at 6:27 PM ^
Those things need to be organic IMO. Dantonio had his name messed up so many times by ESPN and others that it just kind of happened.
PS - If anyone knows an origin story for "Kork Coupons" that is one I still do not know...
October 28th, 2020 at 7:57 PM ^
Yep, it's only a matter of time: 'Del Fucker'
October 28th, 2020 at 8:45 PM ^
John L Tucker is easy to spell.
October 28th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
For some reason I thought his name was Lem Tucker.
October 28th, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
His name is Douchebagtonio......