Michigan State Football Coaching Search Is Still Aimless

As the Mel Tucker scandal approaches the one month mark, MSU’s football season continues under the leadership of interim coach Harlon Barnett. So far, MSU has gone 0-3 since the change and things look bleak for the remainder of the season, with bowl eligibility becoming more of a long shot with each passing week and each added loss. The only thing we are learning from this in relation to MSU’s coaching search is that Barnett is probably not a candidate for the permanent role.

Barnett will be the coach for the remainder of the season, but then he, and most likely this entire staff, will be let go. Then and only then will the official search commence. That does not mean that the unofficial search is not already going on. Athletic Director Alan Haller has definitely been doing work behind the scenes and putting out feelers to all corners of the football landscape.

There has been no direct news of Haller reaching out to any potential candidates, but that has not stopped reporters from asking questions of the usual suspects or for fake reports to be circulated. The biggest name to surface in speculative posts is that of former Ohio State head coach, Urban Meyer. Some social media reports went so far as to say that Meyer was in East Lansing, and one internet wizard even posted a flight plan that seemingly showed evidence of Urban’s travel.

I know many of you have been debating on the pros and cons of having Urban as our next head coach. Well, if the latest reports from “credible” news sources are to be trusted, it is not going to happen. A colleague of Meyer on Fox Sports quoted Meyer as saying there is “Zero truth” to rumors of his interest in the MSU job. Take that however you would like, but I will remain skeptical about this prospect.

Likewise, many other coaches around the country who have been asked about this job opening have shot down interest in it. That list includes Kansas’ Lance Leipold, Kansas State’s Chris Kleiman, and Washington State’s Jake Dickert, though the latter’s answer to the question could be interpreted as him not shutting down the possibility completely.

I have not talked to any university out there, and we’re focused on right here, right now and what we’re gonna do with this team.

So for those of you internet sleuths out there, I think it is going to be a while before you crack the case on this one. I imagine it will be a while still before MSU even conducts any interviews, probably not until the conclusion of the regular season. Please continue to discuss candidates you would like to see or not see on the Spartan sideline. If we kick out enough names, one of you will prove to be correct. But that is a long way off. For now, enjoy this bye week and a Saturday without an MSU loss.