Looks like Mrs. Fickell may have decided she did not want her husband jumping into the toxic pool in East Lansing. Campus culture played role in Luke Fickell turning down Michigan State football job
But what a 1. He went 5-7 at Colorado and parlayed it into a new job that doubled his salary. He is waking into a really tough situation in East Lansing. The last few years of recruiting under Dantonio have been awful. The administration at MSU is still in chaos after the Nasser scandal and off the field scandals in both football and basketball. The schedules in 2020 and 2021 are brutal. And he is now in the same division with Death Star OSU along with PSU and M.
This is interesting. Looks like Nick Saban’s opinions are very important in East Lansing. The rumor was that Dantonio was pushing for Tressel. Article does a nice job listing what Tucker May bring to the table. Did Nick Saban play a key role in helping his old school find its next coach?
Makes you wonder why he decided to take it. I know Colorado isn't a great job, they have a small stadium and recruiting is tough. But Boulder is beautiful, and he's making almost 2.5 M/year at Colorado. Not sure what the expectations are at Colorado vs Mich State. But he's going to be hard pressed to get MSU out of 4th place in the Big !0 East. I know they were in the CFP a few years ago, but I think that was an unusual season. Not to mention what Bobda related about the state of affairs at MSU. That article Bobda linked about Saban is interesting, mostly for the reason that he even cared about what happens in East Lansing. But I'd definitely listen to Nick when it comes to coaching. Like all really successful coaches a lot of his guys go on to be HC somewhere.
From an article on the Athletic about the Tucker hire. Michigan State is expected to double Tucker’s $2.7 million salary and his $3.15 million assistant salary pool, plus increases to the strength and conditioning budget. Colorado couldn’t or wouldn’t contend with that. In the past month-plus, the Pac-12 has lost coaches to Michigan State and Mississippi State, middle-to-lower jobs in the Big Ten and SEC, respectively. Six Big Ten coaches made more than the Pac-12’s highest-paid coach last season (Chris Petersen). Tucker’s pay was in the middle of the Pac-12. What the Big Ten and SEC are earning in media rights and donations dwarfs everyone else.
He has a $3mm buyout at Colorado, which MSU is paying. What caught my eye in Bobda's article above is that he was Saban's associate head coach at Alabama. That tells me all I need to know.
Tucker has a good resume, besides being with Saban at Alabama, Smart took him with him to Georgia as the DCoord, then he got the Colorado job. 5-7 record in his first year is not likely an indicator that he wasn't going to turn the program around, not sure what he inherited. But it is a bit of a shock that MSU not only is paying his 3M buyout but paying him more than a HOF basketball coach who has a National Championship and multiple Final Fours. It would seem that they are thinking that they can compete with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, so expectations are going to be high. It'll be a rough road as I don't think he was left a roster that can do that. He's going to have to have 3 years to rebuild if he can.
Mel is a good coach. Is he a great coach? We'll find out. I think winning at Michigan State will prove harder than winning at CU in the long run, but then again, I am biased.
Why is everyone turning down Colorado? It would seem to be a good step towards a top tier job. I understand the recruiting difficulties but the expectations are lower and a good coach can step up in a couple of years.
Scott Cochran (Strength and Conditioning Coach) is leaving Alabama for Georgia. He is a close friend of Kirby Smart's and Smart has been trying to lure him away ever he got to Georgia. Cochran was a sparkplug of enthusiasm in the weight room and on the field. The odd thing is that he is going to Georgia as the Special Teams coach. I don't think anyone knows how good of a position coach he is nor do we know how good of a recruiter he is. Saban will miss his enthusiasm. His signature "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH" scream was part of the big screen pre-game videos before each home game. He will be missed.
Is this the first time he's been an on the field coach? They were talking about him on ESPNU this am on the drive into the office and said that before Alabama he was working in the NBA with then New Orleans Hornets. I don't believe he played football. I guess though being around the Tide and Nick Saban for as long as he was he's bound to have absorbed a lot of knowledge and coaching special teams seems to me like the least demanding of all the on the field coaching positions. Eddie O started out as a S&C coach, but he did play football.
Coach Day is being given a three year contract extension and 20 million dollar raise, over the next three years in graduated steps, and the university will deposit an additional 1 million n his retirement account. I should have gone into coaching!