Who are the best, most logical and most realistic options head coach candidates for Michigan State? Industry sources weigh in
After 13 seasons with just one head coach from 2007 to 2019, Michigan State is now set for its second head coaching search in the last four years.
Last time, the Spartans hired Tucker after their top target, Luke Fickell, passed on the job. Now, Michigan State needs to find a replacement for Tucker following the school’s decision to fire him for cause in the midst of the sexual harassment scandal involving sexual misconduct activist Brenda Tracy.
While coaches such as Kentucky’s Mark Stoops and Washington’s Kalen DeBoer make a lot of sense as targets for the Spartans, it’s probably fair to say that it’s highly unlikely either ends up in East Lansing. So who are the best, most logical and most realistic options for Michigan State? After polling industry sources, here are 11 coaches who fall in that category (listed alphabetically):
Jason Candle, Toledo head coach
After winning nine games last season, Candle and Toledo were the preseason pick to win the MAC this season and have won two straight games since a tough 30-28 Week 1 loss to Illinois, which the Rockets lost on a late field goal. It was the second time in three years that Candle fell just short of leading Toledo to an upset over a Power Five opponent. In 2021, the Rockets held a lead on No. 8 Notre Dame with less than two minutes remaining before falling on a late touchdown.
In addition to being on the radar for other head coaching jobs in recent years, Candle’s also a respected offensive mind who has been a target for offensive coordinator jobs at schools such as Miami. Candle has been Toledo’s head coach since 2016, posting a 56-33 overall record and a 35-19 mark against MAC competition.
Jake Dickert, Washington State head coach
In his second full season as Washington State’s head coach, Dickert has Washington State off to a 3-0 start and ranked for the first time since since 2019. A Wisconsin native, Dickert has Midwest ties and just beat the Big Ten team from his home state for the second straight year two weeks ago. His Cougars’ 31-22 win over No. 19 Wisconsin came after Wazzu also beat a Badgers team ranked No. 19 in the AP poll in Madison last year. Dickert led Washington State to a 7-5 regular season record last season. Two of the losses came by four points or less against top-15 teams — Oregon and Utah.
Mike Elko, Duke head coach
Back in 2017, Elko beat a Michigan State a ranked in the top-15 as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. Now, he’s among the coaches that very much warrant a strong look from the Spartans for this head coach opening. In his second season as Duke’s head coach, Elko has the Blue Devils off to a 3-0 start and ranked in the top-20 for the first time since 2014 after guiding Duke to just its third nine-win season since 1941 last year. The Blue Devils’ Week 1 win over No. 9 Clemson was Duke’s first top-10 win since 1989 and its first multi-touchdown victory over a top-10 opponent since 1952.
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota head coach
Fleck, who previously coached in Michigan as the head coach at Western Michigan from 2013 to ’16, has won nine games or more each of the last three non-COVID shortened seasons at Minnesota. In his final season at Western Michigan in 2016, Fleck led the Broncos, who have never otherwise been ranked in school history, to a 13-1 record and a No. 15 final ranking in the AP poll.
Brian Hartline, Ohio State offensive coordinator
There’s no hotter head coaching candidate among current assistant coaches than Hartline. Hartline, who has already garnered interest for head coach openings in recent years, continues to recruit and develop high-level wide receiver talent for the Buckeyes and is also now in his first season as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
“I understand the hype,” an athletic director that has interacted with Hartline told On3.
Matt House, LSU defensive coordinator
House, a Michigan native and Michigan State alum, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Spartans in 2001. He was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award last year during his first season as the defensive coordinator at LSU. Before LSU, House was a part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent success as a member of Andy Reid’s defensive staff. During his three seasons as the Chiefs’ linebackers coach, Kansas City won one Super Bowl and played in another.
Charles Huff, Marshall head coach
Huff is 18-10 in three seasons as the head coach at Marshall, including an 11-4 mark the last two years. The big signature win for Huff so far was a Week 2 victory at No. 8 ranked Notre Dame last season. Huff, who was the running backs coach and assistant head coach at Alabama prior to being hired at Marshall, previously worked in Michigan as the running backs coach at Western Michigan in 2013 and in the Big Ten as the running backs coach at Penn State from 2014 to ’17.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State head coach
After winning four FCS national championships in five seasons as the head coach at North Dakota State, Klieman is now 32-21 overall and 20-16 in Big 12 play in five seasons as the head coach at Kansas State. The Wildcats’ Big 12 championship last year was the program’s first since claiming a share of the Big 12 title in 2012.
Lance Leipold, Kansas head coach
Before Leipold was hired in 2021, Kansas hadn’t won more than three games in a season since 2009. Nevertheless, Leipold now has the Jayhawks off to their second straight 3-0 start to the year. Under Leipold, Kansas has improved from 2-10 in 2021 to 6-7 last season and 3-0 to begin this year. Leipold has significant Midwest ties as a Wisconsin native and based on his experience at programs such as Wisconsin, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha and Wisconsin-Whitewater. Leipold won five Division III national championships as the head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater and then went 24-10 during the final three of his six seasons as the head coach at Buffalo prior to being hired at Kansas.
Sean Lewis, Colorado offensive coordinator
Lewis is the leader of Deion Sanders’ offense at Colorado that ranks No. 2 nationally in passing offense and No. 15 in scoring offense. Lewis, a former Big Ten player at Wisconsin, was the head coach at Kent State for five seasons prior to leaving to take the offensive coordinator job at Colorado.
In Lewis’ final four seasons at Kent State, he led the team to a 22-21 overall record, including an 18-10 mark in MAC conference play. To put that into perspective, Kent State had failed to finish with a winning record in 38 of the previous 41 seasons prior to Lewis being hired as head coach in 2018. He was a top candidate for the Cincinnati head coach opening this past cycle prior to the Bearcats hiring Scott Satterfield.
Jonathan Smith, Oregon State head coach
After inhering an Oregon State program that was just 1-11 in 2017, Smith has the Beavers 13-3 the last two seasons, including 3-0 to start this year. Oregon State’s 10 wins last season were its most since 2006. Meanwhile, its current ranking (No. 14 in the AP poll) marks just the second time since 2001 that the Beavers have been ranked in the top-15.
Some of the others that industry sources could see maybe being at the very least on the early radar for Michigan State: Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann.
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