Official: Michigan State Fires Mel Tucker
Michigan State University athletic director Alan Haller fired head football coach Mel Tucker (pictured above) on Wednesday afternoon.
You can read the termination letter from Haller to Mel Tucker's agent (based out of Ohio) HERE
Wednesday's announcement comes seventeen days (September 10th) after the school suspended Tucker without pay while the school investigated him for potential Title IX violations involving sexual misconduct.
The suspension came hours after the newspaper USA Today publicized allegations of sexual harassment/misconduct against Tucker by rape survivor Brenda Tracy.
Coach Tucker leaves Michigan State after 3+ seasons in East Lansing. His record as Spartans head coach was 20-14. He had a 2-1 record against arch-rival Michigan. Tucker came to East Lansing in 2020 after one season as head coach at Colorado. And led the team to a Peach Bowl victory over Pittsburgh in 2021 to cap off a 11-2 season.
He was in the second year of a 10-year contract extension worth $95 million that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in collegiate athletics. He agreed to the deal in the days after MSU's comeback victory over Michigan in 2021. Whether the school can recoup any and/or all of the remaining money on the contract remains to be seen.
Tucker has extensive experience as an assistant coach in college and in the National Football League (NFL), including an interim head coaching stint with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011.
MSU named secondary (defensive backs) coach Harlon Barnett as the team's interim coach on September 10th. The team is 0-2 since Tucker was suspended. The Spartans head to Iowa to play the Hawkeyes this Saturday night.