Two of Mark Dantonio's assistants will be retained by new MSU head coach Mel Tucker
Despite reports that Mel Tucker planned to part ways with Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State staff, he plans on retaining at least two longtime assistant coaches for the Spartans.
Saturday, Michigan State tweeted out that defensive tackles coach Ron Burton and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel have been retained by Tucker. Burton has been in East Lansing since the 2013 season and Tressel has been a member of the MSU staff since Mark Dantonio took the job in 2007. He will be on the sidelines for his 14th season next fall.
It was reported last week by multiple outlets that Tucker planned to assemble his own staff and would not retain Dantonio’s assistants. While that may still be the case for a majority of the coaching staff, Burton and Tressel will keep a bit of that Dantonio flavor alive in East Lansing.
Excited to have @CoachMikeTress and @CoachRonBurton on the Spartan defensive staff next season! pic.twitter.com/w6kIpSlxz3
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) February 15, 2020
Burton was actually offered a position on Indiana’s staff as the defensive line coach, a job he planned on accepting. But Burton had a change of heart at the last minute and decided to remain on the Michigan State staff.
Tressel served as the acting head coach for a week, stepping in when Dantonio decided to retire as head coach after 13 seasons. He’s held titles as defensive coordinator, assistant head coach and linebackers coach since arriving in East Lansing.
Tucker is still working on assembling the rest of his staff at Michigan State.