Mel Tucker needs to prove to Michigan State boosters 2021 was not an anomaly
For the love of all things Sparty, let’s just hope Mel Tucker has a great year leading Michigan State. Otherwise, the program’s boosters may have to swallow the bitterest of pills and pay an ungodly amount in buyout money to the one-year wonder head coach. Michigan State was outstanding in 2021, winning 11 games, the Peach Bowl and finishing ranked inside of the top 10. But last year…
Tucker’s team went 5-7 and failed to reach a bowl game after a monumentally successful season the year prior. If we want to say the COVID year was a wash, we could do that. Keep in mind that he only took over a retiring Mark Dantonio a month and change before the world shut down. We know that Tucker can recruit, but he cannot sustain a program based on winning the portal lottery.
Odds are, he will never get a generational player in the portal again like he did in 2021 with Kenneth Walker III coming over from Wake Forest. In short, Michigan State should be a top-half program in the new Big Ten. It is one of the best programs in the country where winning a national title is just out of arm’s reach. The Spartans should be pushing for playoff berths, not bowl games.
Anything short of eight wins and a top-25 finish will have Spartans fans second-guessing Tucker.