Tag: MSU coaching search

ESPN’s Rece Davis names his top candidates for MSU opening

Rece Davis of ESPN had some interesting candidates he could see Michigan State hiring as its next head coach

Rece Davis could see Michigan State rowing the boat next fall.

Davis — host of ESPN’s “College GameDay” show — revealed a handful of candidates Michigan State should consider for its open head coaching position. The list includes P.J. Fleck of Minnesota.

Here’s what Davis had to say about Fleck and the Spartans chances of making him their next head coach:

“I’m a big fan of PJ Fleck,” Davis said. “I’m not sure that this constitutes a big enough upward mobility for him from Minnesota, but maybe it does. That would be for him to decide.”

Davis considers a move by Fleck as a bit of a long shot, so he also named Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell as others to monitor.

I’m not sure many Spartans fans would be happy about any of these three hires (I personally wouldn’t), but I also wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up being one of these three. Of this group, Fleck would be my personal first choice.

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Former Michigan State football players call for Harlon Barnett to be next head coach

There’s no doubt who these former players want leading Michigan State next season.

It’s quite obvious who former Michigan State football players want to be the next head coach.

Not long after Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell declined the offer to be the next coach at MSU, tweets started pouring in from former players in support of former Michigan State co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett. Barnett left Michigan State after the 2017 season to be the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Florida State. Barnett was not retained after former FSU coach Willie Taggart was fired and is currently without a coaching job.

Here’s just a sampling of some of the tweets in support of Barnett.

A lot of the players in the above tweets were specifically coached by Barnett, who was also defensive backs coach during his time at MSU. But it is certainly notable that there are some offensive players in there as well and some former players who never played under Barnett. Also included is Montez Sweat, who was kicked off the Michigan State team in 2016, but still has positive things to say about Barnett.

Who knows if former players rising around him in support will get Barnett a look at the job, but if it does and he ends up getting it, at the very least he’ll have the support of some very import alumni.

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