Pete Thamel reveals list of Michigan State coaching candidates

ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed what’s next for the Michigan State coaching search by listing off potential candidates.

The Spartans could attack two viable candidates from other conferences. Thamel mentioned Duke’s Mike Elko and Kansas’ Lance Leipold.

Both were reported candidates earlier this week and they could see the attraction in East Lansing.

“Here’s two things to think about with this Michigan State job,” Thamel said on College GameDay. “One is it projects as the best job to open in the upcoming cycle via firing. And the second is that realignment has really changed the landscape of how jobs are viewed.

“I hate to say this out loud there in Durham but someone like Duke’s, Mike Elko from the ACC or Kansas’ Lance Leipold from the Big 12 could be more attracted to a middle of the road job in the Big Ten.”

Not only that, there are two Pac-12 coaches that could make the jump amid uncertainty with the conference.

“There’s also Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith and Washington State’s Jake Dickert, who have precarious conference situations they just inherited in the last few months,” Thamel said.

“And recently with two other names to think about one former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien he’s the OC at the Patriots now. And the other is former Michigan State defensive coordinator (and current Pitt head coach) Pat Narduzzi, he was a target last time when the job went to Tucker.”

Recent comments from Leipold suggest he is not interested in leaving Lawrence, though. Heading into Saturday’s game against Texas, Leipold says the expectation of him and his family is to retire with Kansas.

“You can never say never in this game because you never know exactly what happens internally or externally,” Leipold, 59, said via the On 2nd Thought podcast. “But it’s our expectation that we finish my career at the University of Kansas.”

Leipold has been a head coach at three stops — Wisconsin-Whitewater, Buffalo, and Kansas. His combined record is 158-56, including 12-17 with the Jayhawks. Six NCAA Division III national championships were won by Wisconsin-Whitewater under Leipold’s watch.

Dickert is a little bit of the opposite for Michigan State. He is not as experienced as Leipold, with Washington State being his first rodeo as a head coach. The success has been there though, especially after taking over a program with a ton of issues.

The coaching journey of Dickert has been a crazy one. Despite playing wide receiver in college, he has a defensive background. Dickert has worked at the FBS, FCS, Division II, and Division III levels of college football. To say he has been everywhere would be an understatement.