A 49-point loss to Ohio State didn’t stop Mel Tucker from getting paid.
Just four days after the Spartans’ 56-7 loss to the Buckeyes, Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension with Michigan State, keeping him in East Lansing after an overture from LSU.
Process driven. Feeling grateful. pic.twitter.com/TDv4uCsWtH
— Mel Tucker (@Coach_mtucker) November 25, 2021
According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, the contract is being funded by Michigan State donors Mat Ishbia and Steve St. Andre. Michigan State trustee Brian Mosallam and fellow former Michigan State football player Jason Strayhorn were also reportedly instrumental in getting the deal completed, per ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
With the new deal, Tucker becomes one of the highest-paid coaches in college football before the end of his second season at Michigan State. He also becomes the second Big Ten coach in two days to sign a 10-year contract extension, joining Penn State’s James Franklin, who signed a 10-year, $85 million deal with PSU on Tuesday. The two newly extended coaches will go head-to-head Saturday as Penn State plays Michigan State in the regular season finale for both teams.
Tucker, a former Ohio State assistant from 2001-04, enters this week’s game with a 16-14 record as a head coach, having also spent one year as Colorado’s head coach before taking the Michigan State job. That said, a 9-1 start to this season before the loss to Ohio State was enough to convince MSU to sign him to a deal that should ensure he’ll be in East Lansing far longer than he was in Boulder.
