EAST LANSING, MICH. - Michigan State hired Mel Tucker as its football coach Wednesday, rallying to land a veteran leader with ties to the school who decided to leave Colorado after a single season.
The Spartans lured Tucker away from Colorado with a six-year contract worth about $30 million after first approaching Luke Fickell, Robert Saleh and Pat Shurmur. Tucker replaces Mark Dantonio, who retired two weeks ago with a 114-57 record and three Big Ten titles over 13 seasons.
"Mel brings a championship pedigree, NFL experience, connections to our region, success on the recruiting trail and head coaching experience to our program," athletic director Bill Beekman said.
Colorado hired Tucker in December 2018 and gave him a five-year, $14.75 million contract to run the Pac-12 program after he was Georgia's defensive coordinator. Michigan State offered Tucker a chance to more than double the value of his contract in a more powerful conference in a region he calls home. The 48-year-old Tucker is from Cleveland and was a Big Ten championship-winning defensive back at Wisconsin.
His coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Michigan State under Nick Saban in the late 1990s.
Tucker's departure caught many by surprise, especially after he posted on his Twitter account over the weekend: "While I am flattered to be considered for the head coaching job at Michigan State, I am committed to CU Buffs Football for the build of our program, its great athletes, coaches and supporters."
