On3 Roundtable: Evaluating Mel Tucker's approval rating at Michigan State

On3’s JD PicKell and Jim Comparoni of SpartanMag linked up for the latest edition of On3 Roundtable, where the duo discussed Mel Tucker’s approval rating at Michigan State.

“You have a tale of two seasons, when they won 11 games, and this past season, which wasn’t necessarily up to Michigan State’s expectations, what’s the approval rating right now for him in East Lansing?” PicKell wondered.

Alas, Spartans fans have seen some mixed results from Tucker since he’s taken over the program, which Comparoni put in great perspective.

“It’s a little bit — it’s hopeful. Cautiously optimistic,” explained Comparoni. “There’s always going to be fans that are not sure if 11-2 in 2021, if that was the real deal, or just an outlier. But you know what guys, when I look at this, when he was hired.  You look at the class of coaches that were hired in 2020, when all of a sudden the nation was slammed with COVID. How upsetting that is for a coach, who had one year of experience at Colorado, but other coaches around the country, he was hired in February. Inherited that recruiting class. His first recruiting class was the COVID year, when everyone in the country was recruiting off of Zoom video. Zoom was how. There was no official visits, you didn’t get to meet people face to face. So that recruiting class is part of it.

“So 2020, his first year at Michigan State. They go 2-5. Shortened year. Everybody was disrupted. The next year, they do a great job in the transfer portal with Kenneth Walker. Arguably the best player in college football that year. They go 11-2. Last year they go 5-7. Injuries last year at Michigan State. Guys, they had 26 different starters. It might’ve been 27. 26 or 27. 26 or 27 different individuals started on the defensive side of the ball. Defense alone. 26 different players. So the defense ranked in the 100s in total defense. All those things add up to a 5-7 season.”

Evidently, Comparoni believes Michigan State will be just fine, and he cautioned everyone to examine other coaches hired in Tucker’s cycle, believing the Spartans leader to be among the best of the pack.

“What I’m interested to track is those coaches across the country, at the Power Five level, that were hired in 2020. That we’re throw into the COVID year. The beginning of the transfer portal. NIL. All these things that coaching DNA does not prepare you for,” elaborated Comparoni. “Maybe established coaches had a better shot at it, but first year coaches that year, if you go back and look at it. Dave Aranda, very similar. 2-7, then 12-2, the last year 6-7. He inherited a team that was 11-3 under Matt Rhule. Jeff Hafley at Boston College. Different situation. 6-5, 6-6, 3-9. Jimmy Lake at Washington. Inherits a job from Chris Peterson when he retires. A team that was 8-5. Goes 3-1, then 4-5. Had some issues there, he was fired in Year 2. Eli Drinkwitz. Had one year at Appalachian State. Goes and coaches. He’s 5-5, 6-7, 6-7. Sam Pittman at Arkansas. He had coached a year or two at junior college. 3-7, 9-4, 7-6. And then Mel Tucker, one year at Colorado, 2-5, 11-2 and 5-7.

“Even some veterans. Veteran coaches, Greg Schiano was hired that year. 3-6, then 5-8, then 4-8 at Rutgers. Lane Kiffin, a lot of experience, very well respected of course. 5-5, 10-3, 8-5. Mike Norvell at Florida State. Good direction for him. Started out 3-6. 5-7, people weren’t sure. He must’ve done a really good job navigating that, goes 10-3 last year. Karl Dorrell at Colorado, that was Tucker’s replacement. 4-2, 4-8, goes 0-5 last year, fired. And the late great Mike Leach, 4-7, 7-6 and 8-4.

When put in perspective, perhaps Mel Tucker deserves a little bit more credit than he’s getting for the job he’s done at Michigan State thus far. Last season was disappointing, but the future is bright for the Spartans under his leadership moving forward.

“Those were the Power Five coaches that were hired that year, some of which had a lot of experience,” said Camparoni. “Others were new to college coaching. Immediately thrown in with the COVID year, transfer portal, Name, Image and Likeness. A lot of things that weren’t on any coaching manuals. So in terms of excitement about Mel Tucker, I think there’s a lot of understanding that even though he’s going into Year 4, there a lot of, in some ways, it’s already a rebuild. In some ways, he’s still just getting started, if that makes any sense.”