It is not likely that Mel Tucker will be fired at Michigan State this December, but if the Spartans are horrible this season, he will be in trouble. What might save Tucker’s job heading into 2024 is that Michigan State has committed a lot of money to Tucker. It probably won’t want to bail on him. However, if MSU is 3-9 this year, there will be a drumbeat for Tucker’s termination.
This brings up a specific question: If a Big Ten school needs to hire a new coach, and it wants to compete with USC in 2024 and beyond, what should it look for in that coach?
The Riley Files provided an answer, via Oklahoma expert Kegan Reneau:
“Iowa state plays football a little bit differently than everybody else in the Big 12,” Reneau said. “Now, everybody’s kind of catching up to them. Those are the kinds of people that could potentially give Lincoln Riley fits. When you talk about hiring Matt Campbell, if you want to deal with Lincoln Riley, we’re assuming that Campbell will bring Jon Heacock with him to the next program that hires him. Matt Campbell’s going to hire a good defensive coordinator who will have the chess moves ready. It might not be Heacock, but will we trust Matt Campbell to make the right hire at defensive coordinator? Oh, absolutely. Wherever Matt Campbell goes, I would imagine the defense that he’s running now is going to follow 1,000 percent.”
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