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 1:10 PM ^
One question will be - How much is MSU really willing to pay? Here's a list of the highest salaried coaches in college football. Mel was tied for sixth on the list. I'd think the "powers that be" in East Lansing feel they got out of a jam - being able to part ways with Mel and not having (at this time) to pay a hug buyout.
How much are they actually willing to pay the "new guy" coming in - $ 9.5M / season out of the gate?
1. Nick Saban Alabama $11.7M
2. Dabo Swinney Clemson $11.5M
3. Kirby Smart Georgia $11.25M
4. Lincoln Riley USC estimated $10-plusM
5. Brian Kelly LSU $9.81M
6. Mel Tucker* Michigan State $9.5M
7. Ryan Day Ohio State $9.5M
8. Jimbo Fisher Texas A&M $9.5M
9. Josh Heupel Tennessee $9M
10. Mark Stoops Kentucky $9M
11. Lane Kiffin Mississippi $8.75M
12. James Franklin Penn State $8.50M
13. Luke Fickell Wisconsin $7.9M
14. Mike Gundy Oklahoma St. $7.625M
15. Billy Napier Florida $7.27M
16. Kirk Ferentz Iowa $7M
17. Brent Venables Oklahoma $7M
18. Jim Harbaugh Michigan $6.53M
19. Chip Kelly UCLA $6.01M
20. Sam Pittman Arkansas $6.00M
21. PJ Fleck Minnesota $6.00M
22. Pat Narduzzi Pittsburgh $5.87M
23. Kyle Whittingham Utah $5.64M
24. Steve Sarkisian Texas $5.6M
25. Mike Norvell Florida State $5.335M
September 28th, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
A quick reflection on the list - nine (9) of the '24 season B1G teams are in this Top 25 coaches salary list. MSU is included in that list of nine coaches.
So, in the '24 season - half the B1G's coaches are in the "Top 25" salary list.
As a point of reference (in the '24 season) - the ACC has three (3) coaches in that Top 25 salary list, the Big 12 has two (2), the SEC will have eleven (11).
September 28th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh needs a raise to at least 9 million/year.
September 28th, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
I would have no problem with the salary you propose at all.
I'm unsure of his bonus structure - but, I do think it provides "comfortably" based on achievement.
I'd also guess his "Salary / win" - is among the lower at the P5 college football level.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:13 PM ^
I think the best they can hope for right now is a MAC head coach or a Power 5 coordinator. They might try to make a run at Narduzzi and play on his emotional attachment to MSU (or his visceral hatred for Michigan), but it's not like he's set the world on fire at Pitt.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
As fun as it is to laugh at MSU searching once again for a new head coach, I'm really wondering whether our own Jim Harbaugh is going to be in Ann arbor next season. It doesn't seem as though the administration is too eager to keep him. Why have we heard nothing since Ono said Jim would be taken care of?
September 28th, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
There’s a lot of good options but Candle from Toledo seems like a really good fit. A lot of the Mac coaches get that one really good year and parlay it into a P5 job. Sometimes it’s fluky. He’s shown sustained success at Toledo and has deep recruiting roots in the place you need to be in order to be successful at MSU.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
Sparty would never do it (or would they?), but offering the job to Mike Hart would be rather hilarious. The wailing and gnashing of teeth would be something to behold.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
John Wayne Bobbitt.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:43 PM ^
I have a hard time believing all the talking heads that this is a top-tier job.
1) 2nd scandal in a few years you have to deal with fall out
2) Been fairly mediocre for the last half a decade excepting the one year Tucker found the best RB in the country in the portal
3) Dearth of talent on team (and that is before any subsequent transfers this year.
4) Well behind the top of the Big Ten and that is only going to exacerbate in the coming years with the new school - what is your peak - middle of the pack of the Big Ten, well behind UM, OSU, PSU, UCLA, USC, OR (and maybe WA)
5) They set the stage with the big fat contract to Tucker, so would any new coach expect a nice fat paycheck and can they afford it if they may still owe a decent amount via any settlement.
I don't see any highly sought after G5 HC or P5 OC/DC that wants to jump ship to this place where the deck is stacked against you when there are likely better opportunities, if not quite as potentially lucrative, that don't have the big downside. I know things are different now with the portal but I don't see how this is anything less than a multi-year rebuild, so using this is a temporary gig probably isn't a great option
Nor do I see what P5 HC would make a lateral move -- would Narduzzi want to give up the relative comfort of Pitt where he has been barely above middling to the unwarranted expectation of MSU and dealing with all the related issues and the administratie nightmare above them? Would MSU pay him 2x his current salary just to get another coach who treads just a smidge above .500 in his career?
September 28th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
Maybe the guy at BC (Jeff Hafley) whose name came up here in the post Covid-season dread as a possible guy here. He's struggling now in a program that may as well be invisible. Only 44, he's got a nice resume and makes but $3MM. He started out 6-5 in the Covid season. That program has been a 7-6, 6-7 place not long after Matt Ryan left. Nothing to win for there. You'll always be in the shadow of the Pats unless you find another Doug Flutie.
September 28th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^
Paul Chryst
September 28th, 2023 at 2:08 PM ^
Bo Pelini deserves another shot in the B10.
September 28th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
and keep in mind they'll be second fiddle to the basketball team. even the football building is named after the basketball coach
September 28th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
It strikes me that who they should want to try to hire should be the same guys that we would want to hire if Harbaugh left, and that includes coaches on our own staff now. The guys we wouldn't be interested in shouldn't interest them if they had any sense (not naming any names, but I'm looking at you Narduzzi). Who they can realistically hire may be a shorter list than the list of who we might be able to hire, for a variety of reasons, but in either case, if you want somebody from the top of the list, the floor is likely going to be somewhere around $9-10 million/year.
September 28th, 2023 at 3:40 PM ^
Jeff Traylor might be a good get for them, as much as I would hate to see him leave UTSA. He isn't a sexy pick by any means, but considering the radioactive mess at MSU, he could be realistic for them.
- Absolutely no connection to Michigan State
- Pretty clean-cut image as
- Reputation as a program builder - taking UTSA from mediocrity to 11 and 12 win seasons in C-USA. They came close to beating Houston this year and should be 2-2, but are struggling with the jump up to the American Conference + losing their OCs in back to back years to Illinois and Oregon.
- Longtime high school coach in Texas with knowledge of the state's recruiting pipelines and connections as well.
Obviously, this won't be the hire since he is older (~54ish) and not a young up-and-coming star in the coaching ranks. But it would be a good hire IMO.
My money is on them getting Matt Campbell. His star has cooled a bit, but he is still a solid coach and winning in a barren wasteland.
September 28th, 2023 at 3:44 PM ^
I find it interesting that the only selling point for MSU is the TV contract money. Most established people are not lining up to coach at the sixth or seventh best program in a conference.
Sparty is screwed because they're giving all the coaching candidates a good two months to earn raises from their employer. At that point, they have to hope an up and coming coordinator is willing to jump into the muck and save them.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:49 PM ^
I don't know if it's the only factor, but MSU is something like 12th in AD revenue, which ain't nothin. But, to your point, the next two schools on the list are UVa and IU, which are not exactly destination football HC jobs...and yet, right after them is FSU, which definitely is.
September 28th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
All the good ones are taken. Sorry sparty.
September 28th, 2023 at 4:40 PM ^
It's like asking for a date the day before the prom, you get to choose from all the less attractive ones.
September 28th, 2023 at 5:40 PM ^
Kleiman is older, and has intimated he is done moving around...Huff or Elko would concern me.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:07 PM ^
Charlie Weis is available.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:36 PM ^
I heard that Barnett actually has the best Vegas odds? It makes sense, really. He's an MSU guy and they've got Dantonio there showing him the ropes.
Perhaps he's a stop-gap guy? (unless he does well, then the job is his.) Ole Miss did something similar after the Freeze debacle. They gave the job to a guy who they knew was a decent human being and wouldn't further embarrass the university, and rode it out with him for a few years. It wouldn't surprise me to see MSU do something similar.
September 28th, 2023 at 6:49 PM ^
Will Forte.
https://www.marktastic.com/2009/02/will-forte-peyton-manning-dancing-on-snl/
(I tried to embed the actual video but I got the spinning wheel that wouldn't stop spinning.)
September 29th, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
Depending on how things go for Wisconsin (and it seems to be trending up) I wonder if they'd give Phil Longo a call. Good track record, I think his offensive philosophy is a good fit for MSU, where he can take advantage of the kinds of skill guys they've been adept at getting but also be balanced and run the ball.
I think it's unreasonable to expect them to out-Michigan Michigan by winning the trenches consistently, but an innovative offensive mind (particularly if he makes the right DC hire) could be just the ticket.