Michigan State Football: Mel Tucker absolutely deserved Coach of the Year

Mel Tucker has been a superstar in East Lansing this season. In his first full year as Michigan State football coach, Tucker turned a team that went 2-5 last year around into a 10-2 squad which was in the Big Ten title race until Week 12.

On top of that, the Spartans are likely headed to a New Year’s Six bowl.

What he’s done in just 1.5 seasons at Michigan State has been nothing short of a miracle. He turned the program around completely after it was left in a bad spot following the sudden departure of Mark Dantonio after 2019.

Tucker had to do a full overhaul on the roster following his first COVID-19-plagued season and he hit the transfer portal and basically flipped it. He landed dozens of new players via the 2021 recruiting class and the portal and upgraded the roster quickly.

That hard work paid off as the Spartans won 10 games, including a victory over rival Michigan for the second straight year and they’re likely headed to a New Year’s Six bowl against a team like Notre Dame.

And on Tuesday, he won the Big Ten Coach of the Year award.

Yet there are rival fans who believe this was the wrong selection.

Mel Tucker easily deserved the award

While it can be argued that Jim Harbaugh deserved the coach of the year award for leading Michigan to an 11-1 season and a Big Ten title game berth, you can’t exactly say that he “deserved it more” than Tucker.

Harbaugh did this in year seven with a pretty loaded roster while Tucker nearly pulled off the same accomplishment in year two with a much less talented roster.

Even if Harbaugh won the award, it would be tough to argue that he didn’t deserve it. The only real conclusion here is that there were no other legitimate options outside of Tucker and Harbaugh.

But this award is going to help Tucker’s recruiting efforts.