Sparty, NO! Leipold.
Strike two for MSU. And this one is a swing and a miss.
After Urban Liar gave them the cold finger, uhm, I mean cold shoulder, Kansas coach Lance Leipold has denied even having interviewed with MSU as was claimed earlier today by some dimwit named Spiro.
https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Article/lance-leipold-kansas-football-coach-future-219875576/
lmao. Your job has to be pretty toxic when there's this level of disdain by a KANSAS coach.
November 8th, 2023 at 8:57 PM ^
Absolutely. He's a great coach. Don't discount what he did in D3. OSU made a great hire of Tressel from YSU. If we hadn't hired Jim, he would have been high on my short list.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
Yeah, Leipold is going to have better options than a mid-tier program with a hard ceiling like MSU. Hell, I'd argue that Kansas is in a better situation than MSU because with the playoffs the way they are and the relative weakness of the Big 12 you could far easier sneak into the playoffs in the Big 12 than basically getting 2-3 insta-losses most seasons in the Big 10.
November 8th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^
Please remember that Tuck said he wasn't taking the MSU job and then did so days later
November 8th, 2023 at 8:52 PM ^
Yep, Tucker and about 200 other coaches over the last 20 college football November/Decembers.
Coaching silly season. Seriously, flightaware's traffic probably goes up 50% every single year in the late fall.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
Or (now senator) Tommy Tuberville saying that the only way he was leaving Ole Miss/Oxford was in a casket. He accepted the Auburn job days later.
November 8th, 2023 at 8:54 PM ^
At the risk of speaking this into existence, I doubt they could do better than one of the ex-Wisconsin coaches, either Paul Chryst or Jim Leonard.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
Was thinking something similar. Where is Paul Chryst at now?
November 8th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
Offensive analyst at U Texas.
November 8th, 2023 at 8:59 PM ^
I've heard that they are insisting on a No Masturbation clause in the contract.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:01 PM ^
Like, ever? Of just while on the phone with university contractors/employees?
Asking for a friend.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:04 PM ^
Just for November.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:01 PM ^
If anything, MSU reached out to Leipold's agent. Could Urban be lured to MSU? Maybe, for the right $$$. But I'm sure he's waiting to see if Texas A&M will crater and that job open up.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:17 PM ^
Or even USC at the end of next year?
November 8th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
You think USC would fire Riley after 2 seasons???
November 8th, 2023 at 9:02 PM ^
No one wants that job after masturbategate
November 9th, 2023 at 2:14 AM ^
Tee hee!
November 8th, 2023 at 9:03 PM ^
Why would they be interviewing someone when Urban is ready to sign?
November 8th, 2023 at 9:05 PM ^
Michigan’s fan base (of which I am a member) is so naïve - we don’t understand what has already happened.
Urban is as sly as a fox. He’s said “no”.. He’ll dangle the interest A&M will have in hiring him to get MSU to raise their offer. Just like Mel did a few years ago.
MSU - as others have noted - will either find a JV coach, a “co-head coach” model with Narduzzi / Enos, or Meyer (for a mere $18.5M / year).
November 8th, 2023 at 9:06 PM ^
They really should just keep Harlon Barnett. The guy is a Sparty lifer, his team actually won a game last week and they've only lost five guys from their recruiting class. Plus he'd be affordable and that would leave them more money to pay off Mel Tucker. It's a win-win-win situation.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:08 PM ^
To be fair , that “Kansas coach” is someone EVERY team would want , if their coach retired , including ours !
November 9th, 2023 at 2:08 AM ^
You put spaces before commas & exclamation points. How do you expect anyone to take you sereoslee%
November 8th, 2023 at 9:08 PM ^
BUT WE’RE A TOP 15 PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY!!!!!!!
November 8th, 2023 at 9:10 PM ^
Bad title. I think they'll get someone decent. But as soon as they right that ship, they'll leave for a better job
November 8th, 2023 at 9:15 PM ^
It would be a demotion for Leipold to take the sparty job. He has built a much better team at KU.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:16 PM ^
Don't blame them for trying to get Leipold - seems to be a good coach and, more importantly, *program builder*.
Don't blame him for declining.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:18 PM ^
They'll probably hire this guy. He's unemployed now. Has experience with tunnels.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:08 PM ^
I'm pretty sure his brain is splattered on the window. So, yeah, he'll be fine for Staae.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:19 PM ^
You wanna talk about a miserable fan base? Those guys are down bad and it’s hilarious. They care far more about what’s going on with U of M than any of their own stuff (which there’s a lot going on). Their only wins are any negative press on UM.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:15 AM ^
TBF, if my team was ever down that far, I'd oscillate between apathy and the search for schadenfreude. I know - I followed the Lions at the turn of the century.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
Sparty is going to end up grossly overpaying a underperforming head coach from a lower level P5 job to take over and then their frothing social media warriors will hype him to no end.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:53 PM ^
Rumor has it Urban’s fingers are not cold.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
Spiro has a custom made Tuck Comin bath mat along with several commissioned paintings of him.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
Being a Buffalo alum, I am glad. Leipold is too good for mich state. He is a great and principled guy and they will corrupt him.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:15 PM ^
The guy will have way better offers if he's willing to wait this one out. If nothing else, having an interim Prez, unstable (in many ways) AD, and the most dysfunctional BoT on America, he could walk into a situation where Dicktonio undermines him because he doesn't "hate" Michigan enough by allowing 5 personal fouls per game.
Lance, wait for Iowa!
November 8th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
Kind of funny how no one is talking about the absolute ass-whooping OSU is going to put on them this Saturday. And they still have PSU to deal with also.
On the bright side, they may find a way to rough up McCord and finish what Wisconsin started. (WI got hosed by the refs in that game--that was absolutely a failed lateral and not an incomplete pass)
November 8th, 2023 at 11:23 PM ^
I'm not so sure tOSU will whoop them. tOSU is a team lacking joy, just waiting for some kind of Petitti deus ex machina to rescue them from a visit to Pound Town on 11/25. It will be a home game in front of their poisonously fussy fans.
Zombie Sparty rose from the dead vs Sadbraska last week and while they may not beat tOSU, they can pour more doubt into their season.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:52 PM ^
Sparty fans are still fantasizing about Urban. There will never be another coaching search with fans as delusional as this one. Most fans toss out a name and hope but these guys are still 1+month deep in Urban fan fiction.
They are even making flags now for Urban lol
November 8th, 2023 at 11:14 PM ^
Of course it's toxic.
And also, rumor has it that in a cost-cutting move, the administration has said no to replacing phones that Mel Tucker used. They are opting instead for Clorox Wipes, hoping no one will notice.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:14 PM ^
Kansas is a much better job than East Landfill A & M. I'm a big fan of the B12 conference (fun football, craziness, lived within their footprint for a while) and if he's given time and some resources they can be competitive and sniff (or win) conference titles there.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:19 PM ^
Lance Leipold is a great coach. D3 legend and is brining Kansas back even with their best player chronically hurt. He's either going to keep making that program better or go somewhere much bigger than MSU
November 8th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
Removing my Michigan fandom, MSU is a Power 5 school, with good facilities, a decent history with some recent success and a BCS appearance. There are some positives there. They also seem to be willing to spend some money.
On the other side, they had their success when their instate rival was down. They've maybe been able to make the argument they were the 4-6th biggest brand in one of the biggest conferences in the country, but with the new additions, they're going to drop 4 spots. How often can you reasonably expect to even get into the top 5 of this conference, let alone make the expanded playoff?
If I'm already a HC at a Power 5 conference, would I really take that job? If I'm LL, don't I have a better chance of being one of the top teams in the weakened Big 12 than the expanded B10? Does Urban really think he can climb that mountain? Elko has to see a brighter future at Duke than at MSU.
Even trying to take an unbiased view of the job, in the expanded B10, it just seems like this becomes a ladder job for an up and coming Group of 5 coach, like LL was a few years ago. Or, a retread, but I think Urban has too much pride to take a job with this many obstacles.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Good facilities that are named after the basketball coach. That's a glaring reminder every single day that the football program will always be 2nd.
November 9th, 2023 at 12:30 AM ^
Lol Justin Spiro. Why anyone would believe anything he says is beyond me.
November 9th, 2023 at 1:02 AM ^
The Melvin Tugger effect
November 9th, 2023 at 1:30 AM ^
Seems like Jim McElwain may be on the market soon. Maybe they can have the checkbook ready for him once he is
November 9th, 2023 at 7:39 AM ^
I only have a few brushes with famous football people. One is spending 3 hours talking football with Andy Kotelnicki at a minor league baseball game. He was a super cool guy and is Lance Leipold's offensive coordinator. I'm really happy I don't have to root for him as an MSU coach.
(cool story bro.)
November 9th, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
Scott Frost is available, they should hire him 😂
November 9th, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
why would anyone want to leave a top 25 ranked team for a B10 team that is one of the worst in the conference?
November 9th, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
The only thing that can save MSU football is a new board of trustees that cleans house, or that appoints a president with balls and tells him to clean house and backs him when he does. Hint: hire someone with no past connection to the university.