These are the coaches that Michigan State needs to look at first

Coaches to consider if the other coaches mentioned are not interested in the head football coaching position at Michigan State.

There is no guarantee that the coaches mentioned in this article and if one of them and Michigan State were in agreement, that one of the coaches would become the new head coach and that it would be beneficial for both parties in terms of wins and overall success at Michigan State.

There is also no evidence and proof that if one of the coaches mentioned below if they were to get the head coaching position at Michigan State, would not be successful on the football field by capturing Big Ten titles and making appearances in the college football playoffs at Michigan State.

Let’s take a look at some potential head coaching candidates who are not mentioned in the top-tier coaching candidate category at this time.

Many national media outlets are predicting that he is a top-three candidate for the head coaching position at Michigan State. However, let’s take a look at some reasons why he is not mentioned among the top-tier candidates for the Michigan State job in this article.

There are a couple of things to look at in regard to Leiopld. One is the myth that no football coach has ever had a successful season at Kansas. Former Kansas head football coach Mark Mangino one season went 12-1 with an Orange Bowl victory and he altogether led the Jayhawks to three bowl victories. Mangino won six or more games five times as the Jayhawk head coach. Leipold is in his third season at Kansas and had his best record in his second season at 6-7.  However, in fairness to Leipold, the four previous Kansas coaches did not have as much success as he did last year.

Two, unless Leipold can capture the Big 12 title this season and or lead his team to an 11-win season, his resume does not match up to the accomplishments and achievements of the top-tier coaching candidates mentioned throughout this article. His biggest achievement as a head coach was in 2018 when he led Buffalo to a 10-win season. He led the Bulls to the MAC Championship game twice in 2018 and 2020 but lost both times failing to capture a MAC Championship title.

No one is claiming that if Michigan State hired Leipold he would not be a successful football coach in East Lansing. However, it is up to Michigan State and the athletic department to make the determination if Leipold is a strong candidate that they should seriously consider.

Some national analysts and reporters have him as the number one candidate for the Michigan State head football coaching position. If you look at his overall resume, there is one big thing that sticks out and that is this is only his second year as a head football coach. There is nothing wrong with the fact that he was not a head football coach previously as he was the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Bowling Green but he doesn’t have a long track record of being a successful FBS head coach.

In his first season at Duke, his team tied for second place in their division with a 9-4 overall record and they defeated UCF in their bowl game. In their four losses that season, they lost by 3, 8, and two points twice with one of those losses being in overtime.

This season, he and his Duke team started the season 4-0 but lost their fifth game of the season at home to Notre Dame. If he is able to lead the Blue Devils to an ACC championship this season, then you can make a very strong argument that he should be seriously considered to be the next head coach of the Spartans program.

Another candidate whose name keeps on being mentioned is the current head coach of the Washington State Cougars. He like Elko does not have a ton of head coaching experience. Prior to being the head coach of the Cougars, he was a defensive coordinator at Wyoming and Washington State.

He was named the interim head coach in 2021 and led Washington State to a 7-6 record last season and has the Cougars at 4-0 this year. He is 0-2 in bowl games and his team finished in 7th place in the Pac-12 last season.

He has Midwest ties as he played football at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and he coached at North Dakota State and South Dakota as a position coach. If he is able to keep up the momentum at Washington State this season and leads the Cougars to a 10-plus win season, then he at the minimum has proven that he has the Washington State football program improving year after year and that maybe the Spartans should strongly consider him to be their next head coach.