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

By Connor Muldowney

Sep 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Charles Huff celebrates as he leaves the field after the Thundering Herd beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26-21 at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Charles Huff celebrates as he leaves the field after the Thundering Herd beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26-21 at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 14, 2019; Starkville, MS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman reacts after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 14, 2019; Starkville, MS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman reacts after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Age might scare some people away from Chris Klieman, but at 55, he still has a lot left in the take and he’s basically only known success at the college level.

In fact, he won four FCS national titles in five years with North Dakota State before getting hired by Kansas State and winning eight games in his first season. He only missed one bowl game while at Kansas State and that came in 2020 — a lost season.

Excluding the COVID-19 season, Klieman has never had fewer than eight wins in a single season at Kansas State. Heck, he has never won fewer than eight games in a single non-COVID-19-shortened season since taking over at North Dakota State in 2014. That’s exactly the kind of success Michigan State needs.

Not many coaches can take over an average Kansas State program and lead them to a Big 12 title in just a few years and have the Wildcats in contention for the Big 12 title yearly.

Klieman is a winner and would just need to prove that he can recruit against the big boys in the Big Ten such as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, and Oregon.

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