Michigan State Football: Mel Tucker worth every penny of rumored contract

Michigan State football and Mel Tucker reportedly have a 10-year, $95 million dollar contract extension in the works. Though many are skeptical on if Mel has earned a 10-year deal, I think it is more than obvious that he has earned and more than deserves this extension.

A little backstory on Mel’s short time here at MSU: in his first year as the Spartans’ head coach, it wasn’t the most ideal situation. He had big shoes to fill coming in after beloved head coach, Mark Dantonio along with the fact that the program was not left in a very good position and worst of all it was a COVID-19 year.

All the odds were stacked against Tucker and it showed, finishing the year with a 2-5 record. Fast forward to this year and now he has a 9-2 football team heading into the final week of the regular season and all signs are pointing in the right direction for the Spartans.

What has Tucker done to prove his worth with Michigan State football?

Let’s start with the most obvious reason Mel is getting the extension. It’s because after going 2-5 in his first year, it looked like it was going to be a good 3-4 years before the program was back on the map. But little did we know it was only going to be one.

The Spartans are now 9-2 going into their last matchup against Penn State and hoping to end the season 10-2. He sped up the progression of the program about three years without having the luxury of Ohio State, Alabama, and schools like that, who just plug in five-star recruits left and right. He did it by what he’s supposed to do: coaching. By grabbing some overlooked guys or underutilized guys that other schools misused or didn’t give a real shot and has made the best out of it.

Tucker used the transfer portal a lot last year to try and get as much help as possible for this young team, and it has definitely worked based on their record and No. 3 ranking in the country at one point this season. Tucker was also doing such a good job this season that it was reported that LSU wanted to pry him away from the Spartans. This also could be part of the reason this extension came so soon.

On top of overperforming this year and taking a projected four-win team to a now potential 10-win team and one that almost made the playoff, Tucker has started to show his worth in the recruiting world.

In 2022, the Spartans have the No. 18 recruiting class in all of college football. As of late November, the Spartans have 21 total commits, five of them being four-stars, with the most notable names being Katin Hauser and Antonio Gates Jr.

After an already impressive year, it seems as if Tucker is ready to take another step forward in the attempt to bring a National title home to East Lansing.

Lastly, unlike other coaches in the Big Ten, Tucker has shown he can win big games, and beat ranked opponents, and have his guys play with a lot of heart, passion, and toughness. Now, of course, they still have their holes, but again, it’s Tucker’s second year and there is a lot of really good defensive back talent entering the transfer portal and if we learned anything, this staff loves using the portal. So if MSU can land some of the guys that enter this year it will only make this team better.

So to end this off, Tucker has taken a weak program and along with other programs’ unwanted goods (transfers), and turned it into a top-10 team in all of college football.

Meaning in those three years when Michigan State was “supposed” to start winning, it may be looking at a team that will be making a push for a national championship and not just a playoff spot.

So, that is why every Spartans fan should be happy and excited we will have him for so long because in just really a year and a half, he has proven so much in such a short time and why other teams should be put on notice if they haven’t already that: Tuck Comin’.