Michigan State football: 5 candidates to replace Mel Tucker as head coach

It’s official, Michigan State football has filed the paperwork in order to get the process started on the termination with cause of Mel Tucker. The Spartans are moving on.

That means that there’s going to be a head coaching search this offseason and there are some intriguing names on the market.

The last coaching search was as wild as could be with the Spartans nearly landing Luke Fickell from Cincinnati after a successful stint with the Bearcats, but he turned Michigan State down in the final hours before a solid deal and Mel Tucker signed shortly after.

Now, Michigan State will need to make an important hire in order to save the program from years of turmoil. There are some big-time names on the board who could do that.

Here are five candidates to replace Tucker.

Obviously the big name at Colorado that all Michigan State fans would hope for is Deion Sanders, but the chances of him coming to East Lansing after just one season in Boulder are low — I mean, it has happened before, but this is different.

Sanders is building something special in Boulder and a big reason for that has been the offense, led by coordinator Sean Lewis. The Buffaloes are putting up some serious points just one year after having one of the worst units in the Power Five.

Lewis was the head coach at Kent State before taking the job at Colorado and he wasn’t exactly winning the MAC every year, but he clearly can succeed when given the resources.

While I don’t think Michigan State takes a chance on a guy like Lewis who struggled as a head coach a couple of years ago, he’s an intriguing option, especially at the age of 37.