Michigan State AD Bill Beekman Welcomes Mel Tucker To Spartan Football
Delta Township, MI
Spartan Nation broke the story on Tuesday evening that Mel Tucker would be the next coach of the Michigan State Spartan Football program. You can read the transcript below or watch the video above from the speech that AD Bill Beekman gave as he introduced Bill Coach Tucker.
BILL BEEKMAN: Good evening. I'd like to thank the other members of the search committee, my deputy athletic directors Alan Haller and Jenn Smith. I'd also like to thank Matt Larson, our associate athletic director for communications, and Kevin Pauga, assistant athletic director, who were extraordinarily valuable in this process.
I'd like to thank Coach Izzo, who despite being in the middle of a taxing season, was very, very helpful in placing phone calls, doing a lot of backgrounding and being Coach Izzo, so thank you very much.
I'd like to thank our general counsel, Brian Quinn, who was invaluable in the process.
And lastly I'd like to thank President Stanley and our Board of Trustees who were extraordinarily deft at having a hand on the rudder, but letting us work through the process to find what we all believed to be an extraordinary outcome in Coach Tucker.
I'd also like to acknowledge our head coaches who are here today. Coaches, would you please stand.
They do an extraordinary job of guiding our many athletic programs, and we just are so much better for the diversity of sport here at MSU with our 19 head coaches across 25 programs.
The criteria we established for this search was very clear at the start: We were looking first and foremost for a person of character; a person with passion for MSU; someone with head coaching experience; a track record of coaching success, a strong recruiter, especially in the Midwest; someone with Big Ten experience; and someone who is a gifted teacher.
A fit here is critical. Ultimately, we found a coach who shares our passion and our vision for Spartan Football.
So who is Coach Tucker? Well, on paper he has an extraordinary track record of success. He's got two national championships under his belt at Alabama and Ohio State. He's got extensive NFL experience as a position coach, a coordinator and an interim head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he got his start as a graduate assistant right here under Coach Nick Saban.
But it was meeting Mel in person that convinced me he was the right person for the job. His energy, his drive, his preparation, his commitment to excellent all showed through almost immediately.
He's the right coach at the right time to move Michigan State forward with passion and energy. He's Teddy Roosevelt's man in the arena and he's our 25th head coach and we are darned thrilled to have him.
Thank you, Coach Tucker.
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