ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
If he takes us to 4 straight bowls and leaves for an SEC gig, that's one thing. If he had bolted after a year that didn't look much different on the field than FHCMM's last two, thats another.
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Mel Tucker leaves CU for Michigan State
- Thread starter ElCunado
- Start date
If he takes us to 4 straight bowls and leaves for an SEC gig, that's one thing. If he had bolted after a year that didn't look much different on the field than FHCMM's last two, thats another.
Another question here also is how you define "interview" in this context. I don't believe he "interviewed", but I wouldn't be surprised if he took a meeting with them out of courtesy and respect for Dantonio as someone who's worked with him at MSU.
When asked about MSU story:
"Always flattering. As we build this program, there is always going to be interest in all of our coaches. Just lost Jimmy Brumbaugh to Tennessee."
"1st year was about culture shift. 2nd year is about the build. I'm laser focused on the task at hand."
"We must be doing something right here. It's been a tall task to keep our staff intact this offseason."
"Always flattering. As we build this program, there is always going to be interest in all of our coaches. Just lost Jimmy Brumbaugh to Tennessee."
"1st year was about culture shift. 2nd year is about the build. I'm laser focused on the task at hand."
"We must be doing something right here. It's been a tall task to keep our staff intact this offseason."
He is saying the right things, but at the same time not saying much.
It was a softball question so we got a softball answer.
aka typical political coach speak
He still would have danced around it I imagine, but wish they would have directly asked him if he interviewed or had a conversation with MSU representatives about their HC job.
Mel Tucker on Altitude Sports 92.5 (cliff notes recap):
>Talked about the current class, first year culture shift, recruits have buy in, players that can compete right away
>spoke on need for pass rush, need to get after QB, need straight rush, not just rely on blitzes
>nobody cares about your stars now, now you have to do the work
>asked about MSU, always flattering but as we build, there’s going to be interest in all our coaches, for example, just lost Brumbaugh, focused on task at hand
>we are doing something right, a lot of the assistants have been approached, that’s part of the deal, fought to retain several
>talked about QB battle. Signed Lewis, early enrollee, feels good about Lyle and Stenstrom, feels good about all 3 competing, looking forward to see how that works out
>method to picking assistants - find coaches high integrity, high expectations, want to be at CU, feel good about the current staff
>about Boulder weather, they’re mild here compared to Cleveland, loves the winter here, 300+ days of sunshine, destination place
>loves watching Tad coach, saw the team grow last year, physical basketball team
Ended with a Tucker “Go Buffs!”
>Talked about the current class, first year culture shift, recruits have buy in, players that can compete right away
>spoke on need for pass rush, need to get after QB, need straight rush, not just rely on blitzes
>nobody cares about your stars now, now you have to do the work
>asked about MSU, always flattering but as we build, there’s going to be interest in all our coaches, for example, just lost Brumbaugh, focused on task at hand
>we are doing something right, a lot of the assistants have been approached, that’s part of the deal, fought to retain several
>talked about QB battle. Signed Lewis, early enrollee, feels good about Lyle and Stenstrom, feels good about all 3 competing, looking forward to see how that works out
>method to picking assistants - find coaches high integrity, high expectations, want to be at CU, feel good about the current staff
>about Boulder weather, they’re mild here compared to Cleveland, loves the winter here, 300+ days of sunshine, destination place
>loves watching Tad coach, saw the team grow last year, physical basketball team
Ended with a Tucker “Go Buffs!”
We don't know what they talked about off air and if there were certain agreements about not approaching some topics in a certain way.
Sounds like he said a lot of things in a general way and not a lot of substance, if any.
Fairly typical interview overall, but his non-MSU comments were solid. He mentioned that you sometimes have a "derecruit" guys (aka suggesting they move on), which is something you don't normally hear a coach talk about.
Yes, pretty vanilla interview. Nothing direct like, “Did you interview?”. I agree with your take that they may have talked about parameters of interview beforehand. Or these radio guys just don’t ask probing questions.
Just listened to his interview on 92.5. When asked about it all he said was it was flattering and means we are doing something right. He then talked about how he’s having to fight to hang onto coaches.
I have to imagine Tucker/RG/Plati asked them not to directly ask
Or they know that the question and answer is irrelevant. MSU was highly interested. Tucker shut it down quickly.
Of course you have some level of conversation when you've got familiarity with the people and place, once worked there and they're in position to double your salary. No one in his right mind rejects having a conversation like that.
As much as he talked about the fight to hang on to coaches, my suspicion is that assistant coach salary pool was the big thing Tucker wanted to leverage from the MSU interest. I hope he pushed RG to an uncomfortable place on this because we need to go a level that was previously unheard of at CU.
I think that RG agrees with that general point, but he's also got stewardship over a budget with politics and pressures that are outside MT's job.
I'm just glad things got worked out and I'm eager to see the announcement on assistant salaries/contracts that is coming soon.
I think that RG agrees with that general point, but he's also got stewardship over a budget with politics and pressures that are outside MT's job.
I'm just glad things got worked out and I'm eager to see the announcement on assistant salaries/contracts that is coming soon.
That's what I was getting at. Even Plati has to know and understand that if Tucker is on a radio show right now the MSU interest will be brought up, but you can tell them you can't go into detail or be specific before you go on-air or when you set up the call.
I keep coming back to it, but I think a lot depends on your definition and understanding of "interview". I've often wondered how an "interview" for such a job looks like anyway as coaches have a significantly more public resume than most other employees and I therefore think that the hiring party most of the time has a very good idea of who they want before they talk to a guy and it mostly comes down to how they mesh when they sit down with each other. If they were in Boulder I'd think he agreed to a meeting, but that very well may have been out of courtesy and respect for MSU and Dantonio and may have been a catch-up chat more than what most people would call an "interview".
I'm sure there were phone conversations. It wouldn't surprise me if MSU was interested enough to say that they wanted to fly in and have a chance to make their case in person, which may or may not have happened. It's what happened with Fickell, at least.
As long as Tucker didn't have his agent initiating interest in job openings and didn't get on a plane to East Lansing, I don't think there's anything for any CU fan to be upset over.
I don't think anyone can definitively state that they will never leave a job, but that doesn't mean that they will.
RG has created a lot of growth potential for our football program, and if RG and Mel continue to build this together it can certainly become an elite destination for players and coaches alike.
The non-denial denial.
Nope, those days are over at most programs anymore.
Of course not, but he has gone out of his way multiple times to say that he had chances to be a HC in the past and ultimately waited 22 years for this opportunity because there are stepping stone jobs and destination jobs and he views CU as a destination job. He wasn't directly asked about that; he volunteered it unpromptedly, so while I am not naive to the reality, I don't think it's crazy to take his word at face value and believe that he isn't planning to jump to something bigger and better after 1, 2, or even 3 years.