Michigan State football: 3 ideal head coaching candidates if Mel Tucker is fired

It’s been a whirlwind of a couple of days for Michigan State football fans as they’ve had to sit back and watch as head coach Mel Tucker went from secure in his job to suspended without pay and likely to be fired pending a Title IX investigation.

The season which was off to a promising start as since come to a screeching halt, but fans have to remember that the players had nothing to do with this and we need to support them.

But Tucker is likely to be the “head coach” by label alone until the end of the investigation and court hearing in early October. Which coaches would be ideal replacements for him if he’s fired following the investigation?

Brian Hartline would be an almost perfect hire for a number of reasons.

One, he knows the Big Ten as he played for Ohio State and has coached there since the end of his NFL career. Two, he’s an elite recruiter and could bring some big-time talent to East Lansing. Three, he’s a winner and knows what it takes to win. And four, he’s young at only 36 years old and players would love to play for him.

The only real problem here is trying to wrestle him away from Ryan Day and Ohio State.

Hartline has been considered one of the rising stars in the coaching game and if a program like Michigan State is able to reel him in, the sky could be the limit in East Lansing. The Spartans would just have to hope that he wouldn’t leave for Ohio State if/when Day is gone.

While Hartline is a great recruiter, he’s also a developer of talent after being the receivers coach in Columbus as well, sending a number of guys to the draft via the first round.

Imagine Hartline as head coach and Courtney Hawkins (hoping the next coach retains him) as his receivers coach. The best receivers in the country would want to play in East Lansing every year.