Making the Case: Looking at Mel Tucker for LSU coaching job
LSU athletic director Scott Woodward was brought to Baton Rouge for one reason -- make the right hires needed to lead the LSU program through the next decade.
Woodward's ability to make transformative hires has been his calling card for years. It has only grown during his brief return to the Pelican State with the hires of Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey to lead the women's basketball team and poached Pac-12 Coach of the Year Jay Johnson from the Arizona baseball program.
But it is this hire that he be most remembered for, at least around these parts, so the pressure is building in Baton Rouge.
In this series, TigerDetails will explore the options for LSU under a traditional Rivals headline "Making the Case." In the second part of the series, writer Julie Boudwin takes a dive into Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker's career.
THE RESUME
Mel Tucker, a longtime veteran coach, began his coaching career nearly 25 years ago and currently has his undefeated Spartans in the AP top five after an impressive comeback victory over their rival Michigan over the weekend. Tucker has his team at 8-0 in just his second year with Michigan State.
He's spent time as a head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in college football and the NFL.
Michigan State (the first time)
Nick Saban gave Tucker his very first job in the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at MSU for two seasons in 1997-98, where he worked directly under Mark Dantonio, the winningest coach in Spartan history.
Miami (Ohio), LSU and Ohio State
Tucker landed his first full-time position in 1999 as a defensive backs coach at Miami University for Terry Hoeppner, then reunited with Saban at LSU for one season in 2000 before joining Jim Tressel’s staff at Ohio State for four years (2001-04) coaching defensive backs. Under Tressel, Tucker helped the Buckeyes go 14-0 in 2002 while winning the BCS National Championship over Miami (Fla.) in the Fiesta Bowl.
Tucker, who was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in his final season at OSU in 2004, helped OSU collect a 40-11 record during his four seasons in Columbus.
NFL
Tucker then spent the next decade with three different NFL teams, including serving as interim coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011.
He coached his hometown Cleveland Browns as the secondary coach under Romeo Crennel, who had previously won a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator for the Patriots. Tucker was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2008, and the Browns finished the season ranked second in the NFL in interceptions (23) and 16th in scoring defense (21.9 ppg). For his four seasons overall with Cleveland from 2005-08, the Browns ranked fifth in the league with 73 interceptions, seventh in passing yards allowed and gave up the fourth-fewest completions of 25-plus yards.
Tucker continued his coaching career in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was hired by Jack Del Rio to be the defensive coordinator and secondary coach in 2009, then moved solely into the defensive coordinator role for the next two seasons. He served as the interim head coach for the final five games of the 2011 season, in which the Jaguars ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense (313.0 ypg). Tucker returned to Jacksonville for the 2012 season to be the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Mike Mularkey.
Tucker spent his last two seasons in the NFL as the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears working for Marc Trestman in 2013-14.
Alabama & Georgia
He rejoined Saban at Alabama as associate head coach and defensive backs assistant for Alabama's 2015 national championship season.
Tucker worked with future NFL first-rounders and Pro Bowlers Marlon Humphrey and Minkah Fitzpatrick, along with first-team All-SEC safety and eventual Pro Bowler Eddie Jackson, during the Crimson Tide’s national championship season, which included wins over Florida for the SEC Championship, Michigan State in the CFP Semifinal/Cotton Bowl, and Clemson in the CFP National Championship.
It marked the third time Tucker was hired by Saban.
Tucker then spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Georgia from 2016-18. The Bulldogs were 32-9 under Tucker’s leadership of the defensive unit and finished in the FBS Top 20 for total defense three consecutive years (No. 16 in 2016; No. 6 in 2017; No. 13 in 2018).
Colorado
During his lone season as the head coach of Colorado in 2019, Tucker collected wins against Washington, Stanford, Arizona State, Nebraska and Colorado State to finish the season with a 5-7 overall record. The three Pac-12 wins were the second most by the Buffaloes since joining the conference in 2011.
Michigan State
In his second stint with the Spartans, it didn't take long for Tucker to have the program in the national conversation, although, the 2020 season was a difficult one for every program.
In early 2020, he resigned at Colorado and signed a six-year deal with Michigan State but the Spartans played a shortened schedule due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tucker finished the season 2-5.
To start the 2021 year, the Spartans were unranked and now find themselves as the No. 5 team in the country after and 8-0 start.
Tucker's team started the season with wins over Northwestern, Youngstown State and Miami. Followed by victories over Nebraska, Western Kentucky and Rutgers. Michigan State moved up to No. 9 in the Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the AP poll, the first time the team was ranked in the top 10 since 2016. Tucker then collected big wins over Indiana and in-state rival Michigan to help put him in the top five.
Tucker is the first Michigan State head coach to beat Michigan in his first two career meetings.
THE FIT
The 49-year-old Tucker has been on staffs with some of the top coaches in the game, including Saban, Dantonio, Kirby Smart and Tressel. And how many coaches can say they've been hired three times by Saban?
Tucker brings a defensive mindset to his team to go along with his passion for the game and blue-collar mentality; an "old-school" coach. He likes the physicality of running the ball, his star running back and Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker III said.
"We have an offense that translates to the NFL," Tucker said. "We're under center. We're in the gun. We're in pistol. We check plays. We use pass pro to improve his pass protection. But we needed a difference maker because we're committed to running the football. This is not Air Raid."
The combination of Tucker's style of coaching, paired with Walker's gifted abilities certainly were on display over the weekend as he rushed for 197 yards and touchdowns in Michigan State's 37-33 win over Michigan, which has only fueled further rumors that Tucker could potentially be LSU's next head coach.
He's a true player's coach and understands how to connect with his players on and off the field, which is something LSU may need coming off the last regime. And from all accounts, he's one heck of a recruiter.
“Whether you are a walk-on or on the Heisman watch list, Coach Tucker is going to hold everyone accountable,” MSU WR Tre Mosley once said. “He’s preparing us for the real world because there’s more to life than football — education, taking care of responsibilities as a young man and providing for your family.”
A program like LSU is a national powerhouse and basically sells itself, especially within Louisiana's talent-rich borders. Tucker likely won't move the needle with as many offensive recruits as names such as Jimbo Fisher, Lincoln Riley or Lane Kiffin, but he certainly has the resume, coaching ability and passion to lead the Tigers back to the top in college football.
THE CONCERNS
The concerns about Tucker aren't even remotely close to those as wild card Lane Kiffin, but LSU needs stability and Tucker has bounced around quite a bit taking the next big job, which obviously is part of being a college football coach. Also, 2021 is really the first year as a head coach with a winning record, but it has been an impressive one bouncing back from 2020 behind the talent of Walker. His biggest tests will come in the last two games of the season against Ohio State and Penn State.
As mentioned, Tucker doesn't have the off-the-field issues, but perhaps the biggest concern would be the offensive fit and the next head coach in Baton Rouge has to be able to lock down Louisiana on the recruiting trail and with the right staff Tucker could do so. The Tigers have done well recruiting in-state over the years, but if you really take a deep dive, some key players have left the state, such as: Devonta Smith, Sedrick Van Pran, Travis Etienne and several others that LSU missed on. Tucker is also known as more of an old-school type of coach with his focus being on defense, therefore, he would need to make the right offensive coordinator hire, which is something Ed Orgeron has struggled with.
MAKING THE CASE
The last three LSU head coaches have all won national championships and Tucker's experience and resume would squarely put him on the right path to become the fourth coach in Baton Rouge to potentially win it all.
Tucker certainly knows the SEC and understands the region in recruiting, he's one of the most passionate coaches out there, which the LSU fans would love and he's a defensive minded coach that would suit LSU and the talent well. It will be interesting to see how he fairs in his last two games of the season, but if Michigan State wins out then it will be playing well beyond November, which could be problematic for the LSU brass who may want to make a hire prior to the early signing period in December.
With Woodward looking to make the right hire, and quickly, it certainly would seem that Tucker is within the top list of candidates, especially after the big win over Michigan last weekend, and one we'll continue to monitor closely.
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