Ted Gilmore Talks Road to East Lansing, Coaching Tight Ends

Hiring Ted Gilmore from the Wisconsin Badgers to the Michigan State Spartan football program to coach tight ends was a coup for Mel Tucker and sent shock waves through the Big Ten Conference.

East Lansing, MI—When Mel Tucker convinced Ted Gilmore to leave the Wisconsin Badgers to join Michigan State Spartan football, it was a coup that sent shockwaves throughout the Big Ten conference. It was an excellent higher of a prized recruiter and coach. Now Gilmore moves to coach tight ends from wide receivers, and he talked about the move to East Lansing and going back to tight ends.

“On the decision, obviously it wasn’t one that was made lightly. Coach Tuck (Tucker) and I have known each other just from being in the business. I think a big driving force behind a lot of it was Coach (Jay) Johnson and Coach Kap (Kapolivic) and I, we all worked together, gosh, 21 years ago at the University of Kansas, which was the last time I was coaching tight ends in title. We kind of came up in the business together and have continued those relationships throughout our coaching profession. Always talked about maybe sometime in our career getting back together again. That’s the kind of respect I have for those gentlemen. Taking this job, leaving Wisconsin, we’ve had a lot of success here, and I’ve enjoyed my time here with the guys. I just kind of felt like it was time to do something different, and quite honestly, was looking forward to coaching something different. I just wanted to dive into a different area and give it everything I got. That had a lot to do with it, and of course, I was excited about the opportunity to join Coach (Mel) Tucker, because I have a lot of respect for him and who he is.”

The Spartans kick off the season on September 5, 2020. They will be hosting in the Northwestern Wildcats with a rare, season-opening Big Ten game.

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