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Official: Michigan State announces hiring of Mel Tucker as head football coach

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

It’s official, Mel Tucker will be the next head coach of the Michigan State football program.

Michigan State made the announcement official on Wednesday afternoon. The news was first reported by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic early Wednesday morning. Tucker replaces Mark Dantonio, who resigned from the job last week.

“It is a blessing and honor to return to Michigan State University where I began my coaching career with Nick Saban,” Tucker said in a statement. “Thank you to president Stanley, Athletic Director Beekman and the Board of Trustees for the trust that you have placed in me to lead one of the finest football programs in the nation.

“Returning home to Michigan State is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and my family but it created the toughest decision of my life — to leave Colorado. There is no way to fully express my gratitude to the Buffalo student-athletes, Rick George, and our staff. I am incredibly thankful for our time together and I will always believe in Colorado football.

“Today, I am excited to get to work for the Spartans. Together, we will be relentless to create an integrity-filled and winning culture for our staff, coaches and student-athletes in everything we do — on and off the field.”

Tucker started his coaching career at Michigan State in 1997, where he was a graduate assistant for two seasons. He comes to the Spartans after spending one year at Colorado as the head coach.

Colorado was 5-7 in 2019. A press conference is schedule to formally introduce Tucker as the newest head coach on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB