It was less than two years ago, after a frantic search ended in the middle of February, that Michigan State introduced a new face. MSU promised a bright future that would follow directly from Mel Tucker's landmark hiring, with new facilities and fresh ideas and the sort of enthusiasm in and around the Spartans' football program that had begun to fade in Mark Dantonio's final years at the helm.
"I feel very, very confident that you're up to the challenge," university president Samuel L. Stanley told Tucker at his introductory press conference. "And there will be a challenge. ... But we really feel like you're the right person at the right time."
But time is money in college athletics, and the stakes can change in a hurry, which is why we're here again. Michigan State is back at the negotiating table with Tucker some 21 months later and working on something even bigger. Much, much bigger.
Historically so, in fact, thanks to a couple of billionaire boosters and a high-profile job opening down South, all while Tucker's team is enjoying a breakout season. The Spartans are 9-1, slotted seventh in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, and headed to Ohio State this weekend for a huge game with Big Ten title implications. They're not just relevant; they're something of a revelation.
So is what's being proposed off the field, where the games often matter just as much, if not more, in college sports.
This could be a game-changer for Michigan State, in many respects, as a source close to the negotiations told The Detroit News on Wednesday the university is prepared to make Tucker the second-highest paid coach in college football — behind only Alabama's Nick Saban — and the highest-paid Black coach in North America.
And if this 10-year, $95 million contract gets signed, as expected, it'll be the sort of deal that gets everyone talking, from alumni to recruits, and MSU faculty to casual fans. It already has generated considerable buzz nationally, and with ESPN's College GameDay headed to Columbus for Saturday's top-10 clash, you can bet there'll be plenty more of that before kickoff.
The opinions on this will run the gamut, too, with a loud chorus crowing about Michigan State proving it's a "destination job" and a much quieter one complaining about misplaced priorities, contemplating what it means for the rest of the athletic department, let alone the university at large, and questioning just what Tucker has accomplished to earn that kind of sum.
After all, Saban has won a record seven national championships, while Tucker owns a 16-13 overall record and is finishing up his first winning season in three years as a head coach.
Still, Michigan State's quick turnaround under Tucker has been remarkable, and after his 2020 debut was effectively derailed by the pandemic, the 49-year-old is a frontrunner for national coach of the year honors this season.
So the timing of this is both impeccable and inevitable, I suppose, as Tucker appears poised to cash in on his newfound cult-hero status in East Lansing, while the university — flush with cash earmarked for football, courtesy of super-rich donors Mat Ishbia and Steve St. Andre — tries to avoid repeating history.
Tucker, as you've probably heard, was a part of Saban's coaching staff as he began building a winner in East Lansing a quarter-century ago. Tucker also joined Saban when he left Michigan State in 1999 and headed to Baton Rouge for reasons that still get debated today.
The notion that something like that might happen again was untenable for an ultra-competitive Spartan grad like Ishbia, who has made it clear he'll spare no expense when it comes to his alma mater. Earlier this year, Ishbia made the largest single cash donation in MSU history, with a $32 million gift to the athletic department that included $20 million for football facility upgrades. He also funded a name, image and likeness deal for MSU football and basketball players this summer. And it's safe to say the former walk-on point guard was the driving force behind the full-court press involving Tucker in recent weeks.
Of course, Tucker already was well-compensated here, more than doubling his salary when he bolted Colorado — after just one year in Boulder — for a six-year deal at Michigan State that currently makes him the fourth-highest paid coach in the Big Ten. He trails only Ryan Day (Ohio State), James Franklin (Penn State) and Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern) in terms of average annual value.
But with college football's coaching carousel set for a dizzying spin this winter, that was bound to change. And after LSU parted company with Ed Orgeron — 2 1/2 years removed from winning a national title there — reports immediately connected Tucker to the Tigers.
He carried the SEC bona fides as a former Saban assistant with time spent at Alabama, Georgia and LSU. He also coaches with a swagger that's hard to miss and easy to sell. And while Tucker quickly has proven himself as both a top-flight recruiter — notably via the transfer portal this past winter — he and his staff are showing they know how to develop talent, too. Two wins over Michigan in his first two seasons in East Lansing certainly haven't gone unnoticed, either. That's something neither Saban nor any other MSU football coach in history had done before.
Yet the question wasn't whether Michigan State had found the "right person" anymore. It was whether it could match what the SEC might have to offer, in case an offer was coming. And it was whether the university was ready to jump into the deep end — to borrow one of Tucker's catchphrases — and keep him this time.
The answer appears to be a rather emphatic yes.
