UPDATE: Mel Tucker tweeted Saturday that he’s “committed” to Buffs program. Read more here.
Some 14 months after his arrival in Boulder, could CU Buffs coach Mel Tucker be on the move again?
According to a report , Tucker, who was hired at CU in December 2018 and just completed his debut season with the Buffs, will interview this weekend for the vacant head football coaching position at Michigan State.
CU officials when reached by the Post had no comment on the Free Press report — which cited multiple anonymous sources — as of very early Saturday morning. Tucker and Buffs athletic director Rick George were reportedly in San Diego at CU donor functions Friday.
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell is reportedly also interviewing with the Spartans’ search committee, the report said.
The timing of the story stunned Buffs fans, given that Tucker was hired from his post as defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia and extended his first college head coaching position by George less than a year and a half ago.
The Buffs finished 5-7 in Tucker’s debut season, the best record by a first-year CU coach in 20 years.
An aggressive and renowned recruiter, Tucker’s first full recruiting cycle in Boulder yielded a 2020 class ranked by the 247Sports.com composite.
Tucker, 48, has significant professional and personal connections to Big Ten country. A Cleveland native and a Wisconsin alum, Tucker’s first collegiate coaching job was with the Spartans as a graduate assistant in 1997-98 under then-Michigan State coach Nick Saban, who remains a mentor to this day.
Financial considerations could also be of interest. Former Spartans coach Mark Dantonio, who last week announced his resignation amid allegations of NCAA recruiting violations by a former Michigan State staffer, reportedly made $4.4 million last fall, according to a USA Today database — a pay grade that ranked No. 24 nationally.
Tucker made $2.4 million in the first season of a five-year contract, which ranked ninth in the Pac-12 and No. 58 nationally. The Spartans granted Dantonio a $4.9-million pool for his assistant coaches; Tucker had a pool of $3.16 million for his staff last fall.