Mel Tucker hired as new Michigan State head coach

Michigan State has found its new head football coach.

The Spartans have hired Mel Tucker as the new man to lead the program, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported on Tuesday night.

The news comes a week after Mark Dantonio surprisingly stepped down as Michigan State’s head coach a day after he was accused of NCAA violations.

Tucker, who was 5-7 last season as Colorado’s head coach, was one of the people Michigan State courted, but he declined their initial interest. The Spartans focused on Luke Fickell for the search, but he turned them down on Monday.

According to Feldman, Michigan State power brokers came back to Tucker with a much improved offer — one the coach could not ignore.

Feldman says Michigan State will more than double the $2.7 million Tucker was making at Colorado and double the salary pool for Tucker’s assistant coaches, which was $3.15 million in 2019.

Tucker, 48, is from Cleveland and played college ball at Wisconsin. His first coaching job was as a graduate assistant on Nick Saban’s staff at Michigan State in 1997-98.

Tucker has served as a defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, and Georgia Bulldogs during his coaching career. He’ll have his hands full coaching in the same division with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan.