Mel Tucker has resigned as head coach of Michigan State football after several weeks of allegations and revelations at the university. Michigan State sent him a written notice of 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 during an 11-2 win.
The program has faltered — the Spartans were defeated at home by Washington in Week 3 and trailed 35-0 at halftime — but the job will still be very attractive. It has achieved three AP Top 10 finishes in the last nine seasons and is a premier program in a conference that reaps huge revenue from the Big Ten’s massive TV deal.
The job isn’t the first vacancy of the season in the Big Ten (Northwestern), but it’s a much more attractive coaching job. Michigan State isn’t quite at the level of arch-rivals Michigan, Penn State or Ohio State, but with the conference breaking up its divisions, the landscape should be a little more visually manageable. Expect numerous Power 5 head coaches to receive serious consideration.
Who will be considered from Power 5 ranks?
Mike Elko, Duke, head coach
Let’s start with one of the coaches I believe Northwestern would also target. The 45-year-old from New Jersey had a great debut season in 2022, leading Duke to a 9-4 record. His team, currently ranked 18th, started this season with a bang by defeating Clemson and getting off to a 3-0 start. This is all wow stuff.
A former Ivy League defensive back, he worked at Fordham, Richmond, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. MSU, like Duke, has a long basketball history, but it’s not as much of a pure basketball school as Duke – and the ACC doesn’t have the money like the Big Ten. This could be interesting.
Lance Leipold, Kansas, head coach
Leipold is practically a miracle worker for what he accomplished in Lawrence, Kansas. 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, brought the Jayhawks into the Top 25 last year after a putrid decade Soccer in Lawrence. This year, KU is off to a 3-0 start. If you’re MSU, you probably have to make this decision because Leipold is an elite football coach and he’s proven it everywhere he’s been.
Lance Leipold’s Kansas Jayhawks are 3-0 this season. (Jay Biggerstaff/USA Today)
Chris Klieman, Kansas State, head coach
Leipold’s in-state rival would be a smart choice if he was interested. Klieman and the Wildcats were the Big 12 champions last year, and even though the Big Ten has much better resources than the Big 12, Klieman works for the same athletic director at K-State that he did when he won national titles at North Dakota State. Klieman is considered as good as it gets within the conference.
PJ Fleck, Minnesota, head coach
The Spartans are said to have some interest in Fleck, who has done a good job bringing a lot of stability to a program that was floundering when he left Western Michigan. The 42-year-old is 46-28 at Minnesota, and that 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 The program has made the College Football Playoff before, so it wouldn’t shock us if he thought about it.
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Timeline of sexual harassment allegations against Mel Tucker, MSU investigation
Who will be considered from the group of 5?
Willie Fritz, Tulane, head coach
Fritz would be a good candidate. A former defensive back at Pittsburg State in Kansas, he posted double-digit win seasons at all levels of college football, including 97-47 at Central Missouri, 40-15 at Sam Houston State and 17-7 at Georgia Southern.
Now he’s got it rolling in New Orleans. In 2022, he led Tulane to a 12-2 season that included a Cotton Bowl win over USC and a No. 9 ranking. Tulane is 2-1 this fall, and I could see him playing at Northwestern – and he’d be an obvious choice at Kansas if Leipold transfers to MSU.
Jason Candle, Toledo, head coach
Candle, a former MAC Coach of the Year, won at least nine games three times in his seven seasons with the Rockets. According to sources, he is a well-respected offensive player and is expected to be considered for the job. 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 he was a top assistant at Penn State, Mississippi State and Alabama before getting his shot at head coach. He is in his third season with the Thundering Herd and has gone 11-4 since 2022, including a win over Notre Dame in South Bend.
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Kane Wommack, South Alabama, head coach
Like Huff, Wommack is another up-and-coming head coach at the Group 5 level who served as an assistant in the Big Ten. As defensive coordinator, Wommack played a big role in Indiana finishing at No. 12 in 2020. The 36-year-old is off to an impressive start in the Sun Belt and is turning to South Alabama; He went 10-3 last year, including a narrow loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. His team just beat Oklahoma State 33-7 in Stillwater.
Other considerations
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt, head coach
One wild-card head coach option: Narduzzi, a popular former defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio. The 57-year-old was an excellent DC and gave MSU a big lead. He’s been really solid in the nearly decade he’s led Pitt’s program, having consecutive top-25 seasons at 20-7 the last two years. Would he want to return to East Lansing? IM not sure. He has a good job in a great 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 wildcard candidate who could be in the mix. He knows exactly how to get into difficult situations, having taken over at Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. O’Brien did an excellent job solving all sorts of problems and getting things back on track. He won the Bear Bryant Award in 2012 and went 15-9 in two seasons before leaving to become head coach of the Houston Texans. He had four playoff seasons and finished with a record of 52-48. Whether he wants to go back to college remains a mystery, but this is a good Big Ten job.
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Sean Lewis, Colorado, offensive coordinator
In my opinion, the leading candidate from the assistant ranks will be Lewis. He has head coaching experience from his time at Kent State, where he did a really good job of achieving sustained success in a difficult situation, going 18-10 in the MAC over the 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 The Athletic last week, the move was because he almost got the head coaching job in Cincinnati last winter, but Scott Satterfield, a coach with Power 5 experience, got it at the last second and so decided Lewis that it was time for a pivot. In Colorado he showed once again that he has a brilliant offensive mind. The 37-year-old former Wisconsin quarterback and tight end was well-liked by his players and would be a compelling option for MSU.
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Matt House, LSU, defensive coordinator
House is a graduate of Michigan State University and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Spartan. The 45-year-old, a protégé of Steve Spagnuolo, did a truly impressive job at LSU last year despite having seven new starters and missing his most talented defensive player in Maason Smith. The Tigers rose from 10th in the SEC in scoring defense to fifth. They also jumped from 13th to 3rd in red zone touchdown percentage. His stock numbers will rise if LSU manages to get into the College Football Playoff.
Sherrone Moore, Michigan, offensive coordinator
Moore is a hot name in the coaching world, but would MSU look to hire from its archrival? And would the 37-year-old really be tempted? Should Jim Harbaugh one day move to the NFL, and perhaps that could happen this winter, Moore would make a lot of sense as his successor. He has been a key assistant in the Wolverines’ rise over the last two seasons, as his offensive line has won consecutive Joe Moore Awards as the best team in the country.
His work in the trenches and as a recruiter has played a key role in Harbaugh taking this program to the top of the league and dominating rival Ohio State over the last two years. People in the Michigan program are big supporters of Moore and rave about his ability to connect with players and say players will run through a wall for him, in part because he is very genuine.
Brian Hartline, Ohio State, offensive coordinator
Another Big Ten assistant to keep an eye on is Ohio State OC Brian Hartline. The former NFL wideout has proven himself to be arguably the best assistant coach in the country over the past few seasons, recruiting one elite wideout after another and developing them into first-round draft picks. The 36-year-old Canton, Ohio native could be an interesting option, especially given his ability to attract top talent and the attention to detail he brings to his craft.
Harlon Barnett, Michigan State, interim head coach
Barnett, a 56-year-old former Spartans standout, has a chance to win the job, but it’s an uphill battle that began with a 41-7 home loss to Washington. If he can lead MSU to a few upsets, he could coach his way into that full-time job. But with four ranked opponents ahead, including three top 10 teams, the chances aren’t great.
(Top photo by Mike Elko: Lance King / Getty Images)