It probably just appears this way but it seems like every big coaching hire has Ohio State ties. The latest one is the news that former Buckeye assistant Mel Tucker has been hired to be the head coach at Ohio State.
This comes after the Spartans made a run at another former Buckeye, Luke Fickell, but was turned down. Michigan State then quickly turned its focus on Tucker who has spent one year as the Colorado Buffaloes head coach.
Tucker spent time as the defensive backs coach under Jim Tressel from 2001-2003 and was promoted to the co-defensive coordinator in 2004 before moving on to the NFL. He spent ten years in the league as both defensive back and defensive coordinator positions between the Browns, Jaguars, and Bears before moving back to the college game.
He joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama in 2015 and left to join Kirby Smart at Georgia from 2016 through 2017.
So, in effect, Michigan State just had one Buckeye retire with Mark Dantonio making his announcement, then went after another Buckeye by trying to lure Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, and finally settled on a former Buckeye assistant coach with this move.
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