Report: Mel Tucker won't retain Mark Dantonio's assistant coaches

Mel Tucker plans to bring an entirely new staff to East Lansing, according to a report from Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press.

Thursday night, Solari tweeted out that Tucker does not plan to retain any of Mark Dantonio’s assistant coaches at Michigan State. That means the new head coach of the Spartans will have to work quickly to assemble an entirely new staff before the start of spring practice, which is right around the corner.

Tucker was named the new head coach at Michigan State on Wednesday, one week after Dantonio announced he was stepping down from the position.

New MSU football coach Mel Tucker will not retain any of Mark Dantonio's assistant coaches, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Free Press. An MSU spokesman could not comment.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 14, 2020

Dantonio was known for being loyal to his assistant coaches, and came under heavy scrutiny when he refused to make any personnel changes following the 2018 season — particularly with the offensive staff. Instead, he reshuffled the coaching staff, playing a college football version of musical chairs.

It didn’t work, as Michigan State limped to another 7-6 season.

Dantonio was the head coach at Michigan State for 13 seasons. P