Michigan State Football: 3 reasons Luke Fickell would be perfect fit

Mark Dantonio made a shocking retirement announcement on Tuesday and now Michigan State football is looking for his replacement.

One man stands out in Michigan State’s head coaching search above the rest. Luke Fickell is currently the head coach of Cincinnati, but there’s reason to believe he’s the Spartans’ No. 1 coaching target following the retirement of Mark Dantonio.

There’s been talk about a contract being drawn up to offer Fickell, but since it’s National Signing Day, you probably won’t hear much from either side.

Recruits are in limbo because of the retirement news as well as the fact that Fickell hasn’t come out saying he is or isn’t interested in the job. There’s a lot of uncertainty, but one thing is for sure: Fickell just makes sense for Michigan State.

And here’s why.

3. Young, energetic coach

When Mark Dantonio retired, you knew that he was just worn out. He’s 63 years old and looked absolutely defeated by the job. From 2015 to 2019, it looked like he aged 10 years and that’s not a personal knock, but more so the job breaking him down. When he spoke to the crowd at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night, he looked happy again.

Michigan State needs a coach who has both experience and youth. A coach who can relate to the players but also coach them up without being their “friend”.

Dantonio came in at the age of 50 and gave the Spartans over a decade of solid production and Fickell is only 46 right now so if all goes well and he lives up to expectations, he could be in East Lansing for the long-haul.

Hiring a coach who has been around the block a couple of times would be nice, but Fickell isn’t too young and yet he’s old enough to know what to do with the keys to Michigan State’s car.