Confirmed: Mel Tucker signs 10-year, $95 million contract extension at MSU
It's been rumored for some time now, and its now official. Mel Tucker has signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension with Michigan State University.
Multiple sources confirmed the news to various media outlets late Wednesday night, and Tucker himself had this to say about the new deal.
"Every day I wake up feeling humbled to be the Head Football Coach at Michigan State," Tucker said in a statement. "It is my privilege to work alongside our student-athletes, coaches and staff who embody our culture of hard work, discipline and excellence -- on and off the field."
Tucker also thanked MSU's Board of Trustees, President Samuel Stanley, athletic director Alan Haller, head basketball coach Tom Izzo and others.
The extension makes Tucker the highest-paid head coach in the Big Ten, and the second highest-paid coach in the country behind Alabama's Nick Saban.
Tucker went 2-5 in his first season in East Lansing, but has the Spartans ranked in the Top 15 this season with a 9-2 record with one regular season game left in 2021.
The head coach has been clear about his intentions to turn Michigan State into a Big Ten and national power in college football, and clearly the university brass and donors think he's the man that can take the Spartan program to another level.
"It is a process to build a championship-winning program," Tucker said in his statement. "A process drives that drives us to be better. A process that demands relentless soul and grit. And a process that requires support from Spartans across the globe."
Tucker had been named in various head coach searches across the country, most notably the head coach opening at LSU, but Michigan State went to work and did what it needed to keep their head coach in East Lansing for the foreseeable future.
"I am honored to be a part of the Spartan process today, and for years to come," Tucker said.
