Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
UPDATED: Tracking all of Michigan State’s 2024 commits
Mel Tucker is out. Jonathan Smith is in. This all happened during a critical time of the 2024 recruiting cycle and now Michigan State football needs to solidify that class.
Some players will fall out, new names will join, and it will continue to be a mad dash and scramble as MSU tries to fight to bring a strong recruiting class into the first year of the Jonathan Smith era.
Buckle up as we track every recruit confirmed in the 2024 class below.
USA TODAY: Mel Tucker’s appeal against sexual harassment case denied, concluding Michigan State investigation
The saga of Mel Tucker and Michigan State is officially coming to an end. On Thursday, Kenny Jordan of USA TODAY reported that the appeal Mel Tucker had filed against his sexual harassment case has been denied, thus concluding MSU’s investigation into the matter.
The only other domino left to drop will be to see if MSU decides to levy any sanctions against Mel Tucker, such as banning him from attending any Michigan State sporting events in the future.
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Texas A&M hires Duke’s Mike Elko as the coaching carousel continues to spin.
The end of the college football season is here and the coaching carousel is once again getting fired up. This season saw two early head coaching changes within the Big Ten to get an early jump on things, but more coaching changes are popping up as we close in on the end of another regular season around the nation.
We’ll keep track of all of the head coaching changes in our updated coaching carousel tracker to see what head coaches are out and who is replacing them. This will be updated daily as needed with the latest head coaching changes as jobs open up and are filled. As is so often the case in college football, one coaching vacancy being filled will lead to another opening popping up as a result.
As of Thursday, Dec. 8 there are 2 head coaching vacancies in college football, including 1 power conference job to fill. A total of 19 head coaching changes have been made this year.
Below is the updated chart for this year’s edition of the head coaching carousel in college football. After that is a bit more detail on each job opening, listed in alphabetical order.
Mel Tucker has been found responsible for violating MSU’s sexual harassment policy:
In a 73-page report issued on Wednesday afternoon, a Michigan State University officer involved in the investigation of Brenda Tracy’s allegations of sexual harassment, determined that former MSU football head coach Mel Tucker was in fact responsible for violating the school’s sexual harassment policy.
“In sum, considering all available evidence, the Resolution Officer finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Respondent subjected Claimant to unwelcome conduct based on sex when he FaceTime video called Claimant without a shirt on; when he attempted to meet up with Claimant alone following the Spring Game; and when he non-consensually masturbated and used graphic, sexual language on a phone call with Claimant.”
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Mel Tucker tells MSU he plans to file lawsuit
Michigan State football fired head coach Mel Tucker for cause on Wednesday following a bombshell USA TODAY report that was released on Sept. 9 outlined a sexual harassment complaint made about Tucker from sexual assault survivor and advocate Brenda Tracy.
Now, Mel Tucker has officially informed the University that he intends to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Tucker was still owed $79-million on his contract.
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It looks like Washington State’s coach Jake Dickert is a leading candidate for the Michigan State job. What a gut-punch that would be for the Cougs.
The Washington State Cougars have been reeling the past couple of months, so can we all just decide to lay off for a bit?
First, the Cougars were left without a seat at the table in the world of conference realignment, standing alongside the Oregon State Beavers without a clear path forward.
Now, according to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, there’s a decent chance their coach, Jake Dickert, is going to get hired away by the Michigan State Spartans.
According to Feldman (subscription required), Dickert has emerged as a leading candidate to fill the head coaching vacancy in East Lansing.
“The 40-year-old Dickert has done an impressive job providing desperately needed stability in a program that has been rocked by every issue imaginable the past five years,” Feldman wrote.
The Cougars have been one of the best stories of the 2023 season, going 4-0 with wins over No. 19 Wisconsin and No. 14 Oregon State. Dickert is 14-9 as a head coach at Washington State.
That’s likely good enough to land him with the Spartans if Dickert wants to go. Michigan State is looking for a new head coach after Mel Tucker was fired for cause this past week. The news comes amid MSU’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the coach.
If Dickert can justify jumping ship and following Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA to the Big Ten after being left behind earlier this summer, nobody would blame him. Part of the coaching world is moving up after success and gaining for power and notoriety. That’s exactly what Dickert deserves to do after proving himself at Washington State.
If it does happen, though, it will be a tough one to swallow for the Cougars. Left without a conference, left without a coach, and left without a clear future.
Not a spot that any fan wants to be in.
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Wisconsin’s DC was listed as a possible candidate at MSU…
Michigan State officially fired head coach Mel Tucker earlier this week. The program went 20-14 under his watch, and just 7-7 after a fantastic 2021 season led to a record 10-year, $95 million contract extension.
The Spartans now move forward to find their next head coach. Just last season both Wisconsin and Nebraska were able to successfully land big names in the coaching world in Luke Fickell and Matt Rhule respectively. The question now is where Michigan State stands as a program, and whether the top candidates across the country consider it an attractive opening.
The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy did report an initial list of candidates for the job. Included in that list is Wisconsin first-year DC Mike Tressel.
Michigan State candidates, source told @ActionNetworkHQ.
Mike Elko, Duke
Dan Enos, Arkansas OC
Matt House, LSU DC
Charles Huff, Marshall
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
Mike Tressel, Wisconsin DCAll of them played or coached at MSU, except Elko & Huff
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 28, 2023
Tressel played his college football at Cornell before his coaching journey brought him to East Lansing from 2007-2014 as its linebackers coach, 2015-17 as co-defensive coordinator and 2020 as safeties coach. The Wisconsin DC then left to join Luke Fickell at Cincinnati in 2021. He isn’t far removed from being a highly successful coordinator at Michigan State.
Tressell replaced star DC Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin and is still working to install his system. The jury is still out on whether his defense can be great this season. But regardless, he isn’t the hot name in the coaching world that Michigan State fans will want.
According to Brett McMurphy, six names are being considered for the MSU head coaching job:
Michigan State football fired head coach Mel Tucker this week after an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint was made public through a report by USA TODAY. Now, the MSU fandom and media turn their attention to what’s next, and many, including us, have started to speculate on who might be the next head coach for the Spartans.
In a report that came out on Thursday, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network listed six names that his sources told him are candidates for the job.
While I think this list is going to be in flux and change over time, you can see his initial list below along with what makes them a candidate at this time:
Photos of Mel Tucker during his tenure with Michigan State football
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The Michigan State Spartans officially fired head coach Mel Tucker for cause ahead of their showdown at Iowa this weekend.
In a move that was merely a formality, the Michigan State Spartans have officially fired head coach Mel Tucker for cause.
Embroiled in a Title IX investigation after sexual harassment charges from renowned sexual assault advocate Brenda Tracy surfaced, Tucker was suspended without pay by Michigan State on Sept. 10.
Then, on Sept. 18, Michigan State issued notice to Tucker that it intended to fire him for cause.
“I, with the support of administration and board, have provided Mel Tucker with written notice of intent to terminate his contract for cause,” Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller said then in a statement. “This notification process is required as part of his existing contract. The notice provides Tucker with seven calendar days to respond and present reasons to me and the interim president as to why he should not be terminated for cause.”
Now, the formalities are over and Michigan State has fired Tucker for cause.
Haller wrote another letter to Tucker today in conjunction with the official announcement.
“Your unconvincing rationalizations and misguided attempt to shift responsibility cannot and do not excuse your own behavior. Had you not engaged in this inappropriate and unprofessional conduct, the University would not be subject to public disrespect and ridicule regarding your actions,” Haller wrote.
Michigan State formally fires Mel Tucker.#B1Gtoday pic.twitter.com/mKbUgIY24n
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 27, 2023
Tucker’s tenure as Michigan State’s head football coach ends with an overall mark of 20-14 and a 12-13 Big Ten record. As the Spartans begin a head coaching search, Harlon Barnett will continue as Michigan State’s interim head coach. Barnett is also the Spartans’ secondary coach.
Barnett served as Michigan State’s secondary coach from 2007-17 before spending two seasons at Florida State in 2018 and 2019 as the Seminoles’ defensive coordinator. His initial stay in East Lansing, Mich., also included a three-year run as the co-defensive coordinator from 2015-17 and one as the associate head coach in 2017.
Barnett returned to Michigan State in 2020 as the Spartans’ cornerbacks coach. Then, he returned to coaching the entire Michigan State secondary in 2021.
This move could also have some immediate ramifications on Michigan State’s roster, too.
As Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported this morning, Spartan players will now have 30 days in which to enter their names into the NCAA transfer portal if they so choose.
Now that Mel Tucker has officially been fired, Michigan State players have 30 days in which to enter their names into the transfer portal if they want.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) September 27, 2023
Without the coaching change, the next transfer portal window would have opened on Dec. 4 and remained open through Jan. 4, 2024.
Iowa (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) hosts Michigan State (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
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