5 first-year college football coaches who will struggle in 2020
3. Mel Tucker, Michigan State
I’m split on this one. As a Michigan State fan, I want to say that Mel could win eight or nine games next year. But if I wasn’t an MSU fan I’d probably be rambling about how the Spartans could barely win three games in 2020.
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So I’ll go with my more realistic side on this one. Yes, I think Mark Dantonio left behind a lot of untapped talent, but he also left Tucker with a program that’s a whisper of what it once was. Along with this, Tucker also inherits very few starters from last season, with 13 guys who were atop the depth chart leaving the program.
All of this stacked onto the fact that Tucker will be working with a team that he has spent close to no time with. Video chats and virtual meetings can only get you so far in college football and Tucker will be leading his Spartans into arguably the hardest schedule in the entire nation.
Year one will be a big-time struggle in East Lansing, but I think this will prove to be a good hire in the long-run.