Mel Tucker gets a lot of criticism for his time in East Lansing, and rightfully so. The former Michigan State head coach turned the program around in one year, going from 2-5 during that COVID-19 season with wins over ranked Michigan and Northwestern teams to 11-2 in 2021 with a legitimate Heisman candidate at running back.
Unfortunately, that 11-2 season was just a flash in the pan as the Spartans went 5-7 and missed a bowl game in 2022 before suffering similar fate in 2023, only this time without a head coach.
That 2023 season could have been a lot different if Tucker just stayed out of trouble off the field and didn’t have an inappropriate relationship with Brenda Tracy. That relationship led to his downfall and that likely happens with or without her because he just wasn’t coaching at the same high level after that 2021 campaign — he was a shell of himself.
However, he nearly snagged a future Day 2 NFL draft pick in the 2023 class that could have helped save his job, but Colton Hood decided to decommit right before early signing day.
Hood, a three-star cornerback from Knoxville, Tenn., took a visit to Auburn three months after committing to Michigan State and he apparently liked what he saw, decommitted from Tucker and the Spartans, and committed to the Tigers a day later. He signed less than two weeks later and was enrolled by January.
Three years and 29 career games at three different programs later and Hood became one of the first cornerbacks off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Some believed that he was a first-round pick, but he slid to the middle of the second round where he was taken by the New York Giants. There, he’s going to reportedly battle it out for a starting spot.
Hood was another one of those “Tucker could see talent” recruits, but there unfortunately weren’t enough of those to save his job. You have to wonder what his tenure would have looked like if Ben Patton never missed that chip-shot against Indiana back in 2022 to essentially knock Michigan State out of bowl eligibility. We might be talking about Michigan State cornerback Colton Hood being a first-round pick — the latest under Tucker — right now.
It’s wild what can happen in a couple of years.
Michigan State could have used Colton Hood
Defensively, Michigan State has been mediocre for years. Since the start of the Tucker era in 2020, the Spartans’ defense has been a huge letdown and they could have used Hood.
In one year at Auburn, Hood played just four games and had three tackles before opting to play for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes in 2024. He joined a roster loaded with NFL talent, playing in 13 games and recording 24 tackles, a tackle for loss, two interceptions, and six pass breakups.
Once again, he hit the transfer portal following the season and then played like an All-American for Tennessee, racking up 50 total tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, a pick-six, and eight pass breakups.
Michigan State’s secondary has struggled for years and a legitimate Day 1 NFL draft prospect like Hood could have helped return the ‘No Fly Zone’ with a surprise transfer like Malcolm Bell starting on the other side. Those two would have combined to create one heck of a duo at cornerback, but Hood may not have been as high of a draft pick if he remained with Michigan State.
Hood was the third cornerback chosen in the 2026 NFL Draft. What could have been.
Add us as a preferred source on Google