Mel Tucker after two years with Michigan State football may have already become the best coach in the Big Ten both on and off the field.
There were a lot of skeptics surrounding Mel Tucker heading into the 2021 season but now after an amazing season with a roster, on paper, that looked like a 3-5 win team, the conversation has started. Is Tucker the best coach in the Big Ten?
When Tucker agreed to coach the Spartans, he came into a program that was not in a good shape at all. Many fans thought that it would be three or more years until they would see the Spartans get double-digit wins again in a season.
After the 2020 season, it did look like there was a lot of work to do, but Mel showed everyone that if you use the transfer portal correctly you can rapidly change the trajectory of your program.
Mel knows football
When it comes to pure coaching, Tucker knows what he is doing. Last year, the Spartans were looked at as a team to have a 3-5 win ceiling and he seemingly took that personally, going out there every week and knowing how to get the best out of his players and always making sure they had a chance to win the game.
When you hear how players and coaches talk about coach Tucker, it’s always very positive, because he knows how to connect with his players and knows what he needs to do to get everyone to thrive and reach their full potential.
This was evident in how the Spartans finished the year. The passing defense was not good but Mel knew what he had to do to keep the players engaged and motivated to still go out there and want to win and not let the outside noise affect them.
So that’s what they did, though statically they were not good. He was still able to lead the Spartans to a New Year’s Six bowl game and win it and end his second year as head coach with an 11-2 record, and hopefully, change the course of this Spartans program for years to come.