Mel Tucker is no longer the head football coach at Michigan State after a stunning few weeks of allegations and revelations at the university. The State of Michigan provided him with written notice of its intent to terminate his contract for cause. The news comes amid MSU’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the coach, who signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension less than two years ago amid an 11 -2.
The program is shaken – the Spartans were crushed at home in Week 3 by Washington, trailing 35-0 at halftime – but the position will still be very attractive. It has finished in the AP top 10 three times in the last nine seasons and is a next-level program in a conference that brings in huge amounts of money following the Big Ten’s massive television deal.
This position isn’t the first vacancy of the season in the Big Ten (Northwestern is), but it is a much more attractive coaching position. Michigan State isn’t quite on the level of rivals Michigan, Penn State or Ohio State, but with the conference removing its divisions, the landscape should be a little more optically manageable. Expect many Power 5 head coaches to receive serious consideration.
Who will be considered in the Power 5 ranks?
Mike Elko, Duke, head coach
Let’s start with one of the coaches I think Northwestern would target as well. The 45-year-old from New Jersey had a tremendous debut season in 2022, leading Duke to a 9-4 record. His team, currently ranked No. 18, started this season strong by beating Clemson and is off to a 3-0 start. That’s all that’s wow.
A former Ivy League defensive back, he worked at Fordham, Richmond, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. MSU has a rich basketball history, like Duke, but it’s not as much of a pure basketball school as Duke — and the ACC doesn’t have the money that the Big Ten has. This one could get interesting.
Lance Leipold, Kansas, head coach
Leipold is practically a miracle worker for what he did in Lawrence, Kan. The 59-year-old from Wisconsin, who won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater before turning Buffalo into an AP Top 25 team, helped lead the Jayhawks to the playoffs. the Top 25 last year after a putrid decade of football in Lawrence. This year, KU is off to a 3-0 start. This is a call if you’re MSU, you probably have to make it because Leipzig is an elite soccer coach, and he’s proven it everywhere he’s gone.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State, head coach
Leipold’s in-state rival would be a solid choice if he’s interested. Klieman and the Wildcats were last year’s Big 12 champions, and although the Big Ten has much better resources than the Big 12, Klieman works for the same K-State athletic director he had when he won national titles at North Dakota State. . Klieman is considered as good as there is in the conference.
PJ Fleck, Minnesota, head coach
The Spartans are rumored to be interested in Fleck, who has done a good job bringing a lot of stability to a program that was in turmoil when he left Western Michigan. The 42-year-old is 46-28 at Minnesota, which includes an 11-2 season and a top-10 finish in 2019. He has a good job in the Big Ten, but it’s worth noting that MSU is a program that has already reached the College Football Playoff, so it wouldn’t shock us if he considered it.
GO FURTHER
Timeline of Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Mel Tucker, MSU Investigation
Who will be considered in the ranks of the Group of 5?
Willie Fritz, Tulane, head coach
Fritz would be a strong candidate. A former defensive back at Pittsburg State in Kansas, he had double-digit winning seasons at every level of college football, going 97-47 at Central Missouri, 40-15 at Sam Houston State and 17-7 at Georgia Southern.
Now he’s on the rise in New Orleans. In 2022, he led Tulane to a 12-2 season that included a Cotton Bowl victory over USC and a 9th place finish. Tulane is 2-1 this fall, and I could see him playing at Northwestern — and he would be an obvious choice at Kansas if Leipold transfers to MSU.
Jason Candle, Toledo, head coach
A former MAC Coach of the Year, Candle won at least nine games three times during his seven seasons with the Rockets. He is a highly regarded offensive mind and is expected to be considered for the position, according to sources. The 43-year-old Mount Union product has won two MAC titles.
Charles Huff, Marshall, head coach
Huff is considered a rising star. The 40-year-old Maryland native proved to be a top assistant at Penn State, Mississippi State and Alabama before taking a chance on being a team leader. He is in his third season with the Thundering Herd and is 11-4 since 2022, including a win over Notre Dame in South Bend.
GO FURTHER
MSU Provides Tucker with Notice of Intent to Terminate Contract
Kane Wommack, South Alabama, head coach
Like Huff, Wommack is another rising star head coach at the Group of 5 level who has served as an assistant in the Big Ten. Wommack played a big role in Indiana finishing 12th in 2020 while serving as defensive coordinator. The 36-year-old is off to an impressive start in the Sun Belt, bypassing South Alabama; it went 10-3 last year, including a close loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. His team just beat Oklahoma State 33-7 in Stillwater.
Other considerations
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt, head coach
A wild card head coaching option: Narduzzi, a beloved former defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio. The 57-year-old was a superb DC and brought a lot of upside to MSU. He’s been very solid for nearly a decade at the helm of Pitt’s program and has had back-to-back Top 25 seasons over the last two years, going 20-7. Would he like to return to East Lansing? I’m not sure about that. He has a good job in a big city, but he’s been there a long time and the Big Ten has a lot more stability than the ACC.
Bill O’Brien, New England Patriots, offensive coordinator
O’Brien is another wild card candidate who could find himself in the mix. He knows very well how to find himself in complicated situations, having accepted the Penn State job following the Jerry Sandusky scandal. O’Brien did a great job ironing out all sorts of issues and getting things back on track. He won the Bear Bryant Award in 2012 and went 15-9 in two seasons before becoming head coach of the Houston Texans. He played four seasons in the playoffs and left with a 52-48 record. Whether he wants to return to college remains a mystery, but it’s a good job for the Big Ten.
GO FURTHER
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Sean Lewis, Colorado, offensive coordinator
I think the best candidate among the assistants will be Lewis. He has head coaching experience gained at Kent State, where he did a very good job in a tough spot to achieve sustained success, going 18-10 in the MAC over his last four seasons. He led Kent State to its first bowl victory before leaving this offseason to become Deion Sanders OC at Colorado.
As he explained to Athleticism Last week, the move was prompted by the fact that he almost got the Cincinnati head coaching job last winter, but Scott Satterfield, a coach with Power 5 experience ended up getting it at last second, so Lewis decided it was time to make a pivot. In Colorado, he showed once again that he is a brilliant offensive mind. The 37-year-old former Wisconsin quarterback turned tight end was highly regarded among his players and would be a compelling option for MSU.
GO FURTHER
Why Sean Lewis left Kent State to become Deion Sanders’ OC
Matt House, LSU, defensive coordinator
House is a Michigan State graduate who began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Spartans. The 45-year-old Steve Spagnuolo protégé did a truly impressive job at LSU last year, despite seven new starters and the absence of its most talented defensive lineman, Maason Smith. The Tigers fell from 10th in the SEC in defensive rating to fifth. They also moved from No. 13 to No. 3 in red zone touchdown percentage. His stock should rise if LSU ends up making the College Football Playoff.
Sherrone Moore, Michigan, offensive coordinator
Moore is a hot name in the coaching world, but would MSU try to hire his rival? And would the 37-year-old really be tempted? If Jim Harbaugh ever leaves for the NFL, and maybe that could happen this winter, Moore would make a lot of sense to replace him. He has been a vital assistant to the Wolverines’ rise over the past two seasons, as his offensive line has won back-to-back Joe Moore Awards as the nation’s best unit.
His work in the trenches and as a recruiter played a key role in Harbaugh taking this program to the top of the league, dominating rival Ohio State the past two years. People in the Michigan program believe enormously in Moore, raving about his ability to connect with players and saying players will run through a wall for him, in part because he is so genuine.
Brian Hartline, Ohio State, offensive coordinator
Another Big Ten assistant to watch is Ohio State OC Brian Hartline. The former NFL player has proven to be arguably the best assistant coach in the country over the past few seasons, recruiting one elite player after another and turning them into first-round picks. The 36-year-old from Canton, Ohio, could be an intriguing option, especially given his ability to attract top talent and the attention to detail he has shown toward his craft.
Harlon Barnett, Michigan State, interim head coach
Barnett, a 56-year-old former Spartans player, has a chance to win the job, but it’s an uphill battle that began with a 41-7 blowout loss at home to Washington. If he can lead MSU to a few upsets, he could work his way into that full-time job. But with four opponents ranked ahead, including three teams ranked in the top 10, the chances are not great.
(Top photo by Mike Elko: Lance King/Getty Images)
