Michigan State and Mark Dantonio were linked together for 13 years. That ended Tuesday, when the Spartans head coach shockingly decided to step down from his position.

RELATED: Odds for Mark Dantonio’s replacement at Michigan State released

That, of course, leaves a void. Who is next? Which person will lead the next era of Spartan football?

Links have been made to former Ohio State defensive coordinator and current Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell. Fickell has had plenty of success at Cincinnati already during his three seasons there — the last two have ended in 11-win seasons.

He knows college football, he has coached in the Big Ten and he has won many games. What’s next for him? A head coaching gig in a legitimate Power Five conference.

Could it be Michigan State? Maybe.

It certainly sounds like it could be after what Evan Prater — a 4-star QB who signed to play at Cincinnati and is the most highly-regarded QB to sign with a non-Power Five school ever — had to say:

“Coach Gino (Guidugli, Cincinnati’s QBs coach) texted my mom and said take a deep breath,” Prater said. “He doesn’t know what he’s going to do. Everybody’s waiting for that moment for the news to break. We’ll see where it goes from there. I’m looking forward to staying home with the Bearcats.”

More from Prater:

“I’m kind of staying out of his ear to let him make the decision he wants to make, but I hope he stays home,” he said. “It would be huge for the city of Cincinnati.”

It sounds as though Fickell is leaving the door open to potentially bolt for Michigan State. He has helped get a highly-regarded QB to sign with Cincinnati. And now that Michigan State’s head coaching gig is open, he hasn’t talked to the potentially future star QB?

Sounds like there’s more to come here.