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One CBS Sports writer believes former Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker was one of the worst hires in all of college football in the past decade.
Will Backus of CBS Sports released a list of his top 15 worst coaching hires over the past decade, and to little surprise Tucker was included. Of the 15 coaches included in Backus' list, Tucker came in at No. 11 -- which ranks as the fourth worst among former Big Ten coaches included on the list behind only Purdue's Ryan Walters (No. 3 on the list), Nebraska's Mike Riley (No. 7) and Washington's Jimmy Lake (No. 8).
Here's what Backus had to say about Tucker:
"Tucker had a positive record at Michigan State, so surely his tenure couldn't have been that bad? Right? Well, 11 of those wins came in 2021 on the back of Doak Walker-award winning running back Kenneth Walker III, a grand-slam transfer acquisition from Wake Forest. That means Tucker won a combined seven games in his other two full seasons. Even worse, Tucker was ousted from the program in 2023 after Michigan State launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment."
The inclusion of Tucker on this list is an obvious choice with his lack of success on the field outside of 2021 and the sexual harassment investigation as Backus stated. But I always like to point out that Tucker inherited a mess of a program, and did experience some success on the recruiting trail that, at one point before his off the field scandal, made me believe he would turn around Michigan State. We will never truly know if Tucker's plan for the program would have worked out in his favor due to the sexual harassment investigation and firing the followed, but with everything consider, it's fair to include him on this list of worst coaching hires in the last decade.
Click here to read the full story from Backus and see the rest of his list for worst coaching hires in the past decade.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Mel Tucker included on CBS Sports' list of worst hires in past decade
Continue reading...
Will Backus of CBS Sports released a list of his top 15 worst coaching hires over the past decade, and to little surprise Tucker was included. Of the 15 coaches included in Backus' list, Tucker came in at No. 11 -- which ranks as the fourth worst among former Big Ten coaches included on the list behind only Purdue's Ryan Walters (No. 3 on the list), Nebraska's Mike Riley (No. 7) and Washington's Jimmy Lake (No. 8).
Here's what Backus had to say about Tucker:
"Tucker had a positive record at Michigan State, so surely his tenure couldn't have been that bad? Right? Well, 11 of those wins came in 2021 on the back of Doak Walker-award winning running back Kenneth Walker III, a grand-slam transfer acquisition from Wake Forest. That means Tucker won a combined seven games in his other two full seasons. Even worse, Tucker was ousted from the program in 2023 after Michigan State launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment."
The inclusion of Tucker on this list is an obvious choice with his lack of success on the field outside of 2021 and the sexual harassment investigation as Backus stated. But I always like to point out that Tucker inherited a mess of a program, and did experience some success on the recruiting trail that, at one point before his off the field scandal, made me believe he would turn around Michigan State. We will never truly know if Tucker's plan for the program would have worked out in his favor due to the sexual harassment investigation and firing the followed, but with everything consider, it's fair to include him on this list of worst coaching hires in the last decade.
Click here to read the full story from Backus and see the rest of his list for worst coaching hires in the past decade.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Mel Tucker included on CBS Sports' list of worst hires in past decade
Continue reading...
