Will Mel Tucker Survive the Tunnel Assault?

Based on Tuck winning or losing against Michigan as the measuring stick, Mel would need to lose big next year at Spartan Stadium to the Maize and Blue. That being after having a 5-7 record this year and maybe missing a bowl game. He'd also need to 5-7 or worse next year and have a few more incidents like what just happened or have a few of his players involved in assaults for off campus stuff.

Bottom line: Unlikely before the end of the 2023 season would MSU cut ties with Tuck.

One twist on this is the fact Stanley is a lame duck president.   Seeing how MSU's AD does not act independently from the University the way UofM does...i would assume the president would have a big say in any decision to go forward with termination given the legal ramifications and dollars involved.  This seems bigger than the Athletic Director to me.   And, with Stanley heading out....that throws a wrench in this.

Not sure how that could trigger a For Cause firing, which is the only way MSU would do it.

I just started to rewatch the game and it seems to me that Mel clearly said “Fuck You All” to the M fans as he led the Spartans onto the field at the mouth of the tunnel. 

He has contributed to a punk culture and the way his players act is on him.  Their culture is a reflection of the leader.

"upholding xyz standards amongst student athletes" I LOL'd at this when I read it. He IS upholding MSU standards.

This is definitely not “cause” to fire Mel. They’d be on the hook for the full contract. 
 

I know Spartans claim that the buyout is from a couple of wealth alumni, but who else are they getting, especially with Wisconsin and Nebraska also looking and finally, if they do luck out on a Bert, they are going to have to pay him $95M to prevent a bigger program from poaching their new guy. 

If MSU were to use last night's actions as a reason (excuse) to fire him, I'd think they'd have to do it quickly. Absent another violation, if they waited -- even just to the end of the season -- they might have waived their rights.

I'm sure Michigan State fans are going to call this out as behavior they don't like any second now.

If he wins, he survives it easily. But he's not winning, so maybe this leads to something.

The bigger question is whether anything is done about the players who committed the assaults. Both by the police (no control over that) and internally. Is he a leader or just a coach who calls this sort of thing motivating and team-building?

To answer your question - yes he will survive this. As he should. There's no action on Tucker's part here that would provide direct cause for termination.

What about any grown adult that was working the event that stood by and did nothing? Will they be bounced on their ass like they should be?

Yes

I'm in the minority in saying Tucker is a good hire.  Not the amount they paid him, but recruiting had a huge uptick, and he isn't a dick, not are his teams dirty.  

I hope this doesn't blow back on Tucker and he gets fired.

Or at least the "he gets fired" part.

If this is what Tuck Comin' is all about, sign me up.

Lack of institutional control happens over a period of time…not one postgame tunnel walk

They fuckin' wish it would be this easy to get out from under that bronze-plated albatross of a contract.

Most coaches are kind of assholes. How often they beat your team is usually what ratchets that up. The more Harbaugh puts MSU in its place the more violent this rivalry will become. When one team gets beat for two years in a row and almost nothing happens and another gets beat 1x and all hell breaks lose it tells you a lot. You want to make MSU irrelevant tell the big ten hard pass on playing them. Seriously they wont have nat reason to get up for their season and we wont miss a beat. 

Want to see some RCMB posts? No? Too bad!

"He can’t bow down or apologize. Reverse the scenario: we win at home and while UoM is walking back to tunnel one of our guys starts yapping and going at them. Are they going to politely ask him to leave?"

"UofM has already fired up the Devin Bush as victim PR machine and we can’t win that."

"Mel apologizes and he’s Brady Hoke."

"I hope Mel takes it as his "it's not over" moment personally. I was so fired up last night it was unhealthy. From the chances we had to take the game to the bad execution in the second half and the post game antics I have enough rage to fuel the rest of my Spartan fandom. Hopefully it lights a huge fire for Mel that 9.5 M a year cannot put out."

"Dantonio knew this was his place. He was and is one of us. Mel is proving that he’s not."

"Dantonio would have been prepared for the presser.

He would have had a smirk and a one liner that made clear the blame is shared.

He would NOT have just thrown his players under the bus and curled up and let Harbaugh and Warde Manual control the whole narrative."

"From one of the worst coached games I’ve seen in years to this total capitulation, Mel lost a ton of good will last night

He made a statement all right...by bending his knee and bowing down to Harbaugh and the UM Machine.

Clown Show Mel."

"Mel’s comments should have been focused on Warde’s lack of regard for player safety in the tunnel and provoking altercations, despite knowing it was an issue in their previous game against Penn State.

There is even video out there of Mel’s head being grabbed by a Michigan dude as coach left the field… but again radio silence. The multiple tunnel issues in Ann Arbor needed to be brought up in the presser last night."

"Don’t bother discussing (with the media) whether MSU’s players actions were inappropriate. That part you can “review the tape” and handle internally (and they should). But Warde’s lack of a simple postgame separation plan to allow MSU to exit the field, thus preventing these situations… is negligent. That should have been brought to the forefront immediately with the media. It wasn’t."

I didn't even really cherry pick these, I just mostly went in order and skipped a couple boring ones, none of these have any pushback.

This is their culture. Lose the game because you're bad at football? Well better get 10 guys together and jump some random player and then figure out how it's Harbaugh's fault-- that's, like, a version of winning.

Do it! Tuck would sue and likely win a large settlement for breach of contract. May make it even harder for Sparty to land a coach. It will be another hilarious black eye for Michigan State. 

I remember someone saying at the time that Ishbia was the one fronting most of the money for the Tucker contract (I’m thinking this was now-defunct “The Beat” pod w/ Quinn and Baumgardner from the Athletic but not sure) and the reason for the length/value was he believes in stability among the coaching staff. If that’s true then a year like this would not be pretext for firing Mel in the first place, which would mean the university and Ishbia would have to conclude a tunnel brawl is cause enough to terminate their prodigal son and destroy their football program all over again. 
 

highly unlikely but what do I know

…and there is seemingly market interest from other tier 1 programs like LSU.

There wasn’t any interest. This was just a scheme by his agent. Same template the agent used on TAM and PSU.

I’ve never been to RCMB before, although seeing it referenced throughout the years. Oh my. Complete sociopaths. They are incensed that Tuck didn’t take the Dantonio route and blame Harbaugh for the assault. “He’s not one of them (fans)”.   I think some even were blaming Dahmer’s victims for their own murders. 

Nothing is going to happen to Mel.

Nothing is going to happen to the players.

If Staee the institution and the fanbase can find a way to justify/look the other way at rape (on campus and with multiple sports), nobody is going to do a damn thing about the fights in the tunnel by way of comparison.

Nobody outside of A2 will be talking about this by the Rutgers game.

A totally classless team that reflects the demented, delusional, and demonic POS who serves as their head coach.  I'm sorry that this may be offensive, a piece of shit should never be compared to Mel Tucker!!

There would be lawyers and likely not

this is an extremely silly and ridiculous question.

He should've taken some swift actions, kicking out some players and suspending more. He has done none so far. If he waits until he is told, then this could certainly be used against him.  

Hmmm, wonder if recruiting will suffer?

Although after Baylor, nothing surprises me anymore, I wonder if football families are still excited to send their kid to MSU?

Not only will he survive, he'll thrive.  That's MSU.   Izzo literally let 2 rapists play for him, they turned it into a story about the rapists love for a blonde girl dying of leukemia.   Draymond Green punched a UM grad teamate and their fan base cheered.  This is them, its who they are.  They're nothing without their anger to all things Michigan and they know it.

He should be fired. The team should forfeit the rest of season and all involved should be removed and charged.