Michigan State’s defensive staff will reportedly take a significant hit this offseason.

Yahoo’s Pete Thamel is reporting that longtime Michigan State assistant coach Mike Tressel is being lured away from East Lansing by Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell. Tressel is expected to be named the next defensive coordinator of the Bearcats.

Tressel has been at Michigan State since the 2007 season, coming to East Lansing from Cincinnati with Mark Dantonio. He started his tenure coaching the linebackers and special teams for the Spartans (2007-14) before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2015.

From 2015-19, Tressell was either the co-defensive coordinator or the lone DC under Dantonio and always retained his position as the linebackers coach. However, in 2020 following Dantonio’s retirement, Tressel was moved to the safeties coach under first-year head coach Mel Tucker.

Prior to his time at Michigan State, Tressel spent three seasons on Dantonio’s staff at Cincinnati. He was with the Bearcats from 2004-06, serving as the linebackers and special teams coach.

Under Tressel, Michigan State has produced NFL-caliber linebackers consistently and has owned one of the B1G’s most dominant defenses. However, the Spartans struggled in the first year of the Tucker era on both sides of the ball.

Michigan State ended the 2020 season with a 2-5 record.