Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell has been the name most consistently linked to the Michigan State head coach, but he’s distancing himself from that talk as much as possible.
Fickell said he has talked to “nobody” from Michigan State aside from Mark Dantonio in the last month, as he considers Dantonio a friend.
Luke Fickell on ESPNU Radio now: "I have talked to nobody. That’s the truth. Obviously I’m very good friends with Mark Dantonio…But I have not communicated or talked to anybody besides Mark Dantonio in the last three or four weeks from Michigan State." #Bearcats
— Justin Williams (@Williams_Justin) February 5, 2020
This doesn’t mean Fickell won’t eventually speak to the Spartans. It’s very early in the process and it’s not even clear if Michigan State’s coaching search has started in earnest yet. It may be that they are still compiling lists of potential interviewees. The Cincinnati coach is said to be the early favorite for the job, and he’ll have a hard time turning down a Big Ten job if they give him a call.
