Jacub Panasiuk threatens to leave Michigan State if certain assistant coach not retained
Depending on how new head coach Mel Tucker assembles his Michigan State staff, he may or may not have to replace a starting defensive end.
On Saturday night, the new Spartans head coach spoke at Saturday night’s basketball game at the Breslin Center, promising his team would be “relentless” on the field and has “something to prove.” He also guaranteed that Michigan State would “get it done,” and would have a team fans could be proud of in the coming years.
After that speech, starting defensive end Jacub Panasiuk took to Twitter to make his guarantee to Tucker, as well as the fans. But it wasn’t really a positive promise. Panasiuk wants Tucker to retain defensive ends coach Chuck Bullough. And, if not, expect Panasiuk to be on the move.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Pansiuk said he’d be gone if Bullough was not retained. A screenshot of the tweet was captured before the post was deleted.
“I can promise you one thing,” Panasiuk wrote, “if Coach Bullough is gone, I’m gone.”
A lot to unpack here.
From all accounts Bullough is a great coach and prob should be retained.
On the other hand it’s Tucker’s ship and he shouldn’t be reading this on twitter.
Panasiuk is the best pass rusher we have next season, by a long shot.
This tweet is really dumb. pic.twitter.com/259RQCzJKw
— SPARTY SZN (@sparty__88) February 16, 2020
Transitioning from one head coach to a new one, as well as a new staff, can be difficult for players. It can be even rougher considering the timing of Mark Dantonio’s departure. Still, it’s an interesting comment to put in the public eye.
Tucker has already retained two of Dantonio’s assistants, keeping defensive tackles coach Ron Burton and co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel. It’s unknown yet if Tucker plans to keep any other members of Dantonio’s staff.
Bullough, a former Michigan State player, has been in East Lansing since 2018.
Panasiuk, who will be entering his senior season with the Spartans, collected 33 tackles with 11 stops for loss during the 2019 season. He also forced three fumbles, blocked a kick and broke up a pass. In his three seasons at MSU, he’s tallied 79 stops, 18.5 tackles for loss and forced four fumbles.