According to reports, Luke Fickell turned down Michigan State!

Imagine that?

This is shocking news, but yet I predicted as much in my Blog yesterday. In brief, 5 coaches have turned down the Spartans either formally or informally, including but not limited to:

• Matt Campbell, Iowa State
• Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
• Robert Saleh, San Francisco 49ers
• Mel Tucker, Colorado
• Luke Fickell, Cincinnati

People are blaming Dantonio for bad timing, but I blame Dantonio’s boss. This is a travesty that should have never occurred if the AD had his pulse upon the situation.

The public was aware of major issues since late last fall, yet the issue of realigning the Offense prior to the Bowl Game was never addressed. Thereafter the issue of creating a succession plan was neglected as well, and now we find ourselves HERE! Basically Mark Dantonio operated with impunity with zero governance from the AD and in the end Mark Dantonio called his own shots and Michigan State looks foolish.

Luke Fickell snubbing Michigan State sends a resounding message that the best coaches in the land are unwilling to work for an erstwhile “Secretary to the Board of Trustees” who has somehow become Athletic Director of a $150 Million sports complex. After all, most of the coaches identified have limited or no Head Coaching experience, certainly no National Championships in the likeness of Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops or Les Miles. Yet the Spartans are empty handed.

A fishing expedition gone astray:

So the Spartans went on a Fishing expedition for pan fish and came home with an empty bucket.

I wrote yesterday that Luke Fickell was a solid candidate, a diamond in the rough who posted a record of 22-5 in the past two seasons, including consecutive bowl victories vs Va Tech and Boston College. I also pointed out that Luke Fickell would choose from a position of strength, and given an opportunity for Michigan State to put their best foot forward to lure Luke Fickell to Michigan State, the search team stubbed their toes and Luke Fickell turned down the Spartans!!!

Fickell’s decision sends an ominous message, yet are the President and Board of Trustees listening?

Let’s make this clear, the best coaches want to work for the best AD’s and they do not want to work for a former Secretary to the Board of Trustees. So, I say this to Michigan State Administrators: if you want to be a Champion, then you have to act like a Champion, and for the better part of 5 decades Michigan State have conducted their football business like a program content to be in the middle of the pack: That has to stop.

Championships start with the best AD’s:

Wisconsin is a notable example: Barry Alvarez was Coach at Wisconsin from 1990  through 2005 at which time he became AD. And no program has been as consistent as Wisconsin since Alvarez arrived in Madison. In that regard, Wisconsin has 6 appearances in Big Ten Championship Game (the most of any program) as well as 4 appearances in the Rose Bowl (the most of any school since 2010). Moreover, Wisconsin accomplished that feat with 3 different Head Coaches, all of whom were hired (and fired) compliments of the savvy skill set of Barry Alvarez whose Athletic experience has been finely tuned over 50 years.

Gene Smith is another notable example: Gene Smith became AD at Ohio State in 2005, and has overseen 9 Big Ten Championships and 2 National Titles with 3 different coaches. In terms of personnel, Gene Smith navigated the messy firing of Jim Tressel, followed by the hiring of Urban Meyer, and then hired Ryan Day after Urban Meyer stepped down. Each of those coaches won Big Ten titles, while Tressel and Meyer won National Titles. It goes under the radar but Smith has honed his skills in 3 previous AD jobs over 40 years.

At the bottom line, Barry Alvarez and Gene Smith have proven that winning Championships come with athletic experience. Success doesn’t start with coaches: it starts with AD’s who hire the coaches.

The Elephant on the Gridiron:

We talked about the Elephant on the Gridiron, and I never wanted to say this because I respect Bill Beekman, but he should have never been appointed permanent AD.

It made sense for Bill Beekman to become interim AD, essentially a placeholder until the Board hired a professional AD after Mark Hollis stepped down, but the fact the Board of Trustees appointed a novice AD to compete against the likes of Barry Alvarez, and/or Gene Smith is ridiculously naïve.

The Board should be admonished for appointing Bill Beekman as permanent AD and neglecting their duty to hire a professional AD to guide a $150 Million sports complex.

So, maybe the most important decision Michigan State Board of Trustees could make today is to reassign Bill Beekman to a VP role within the University at large, an administrative position whereby he could properly utilize his degrees in Business and Law, and in turn hire a gifted and experienced AD in the likeness of Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, or Gene Smith at Ohio State, or any of a long list of gifted AD’s who have experience building Championship programs across the Athletic landscape.

Collectively the President and the Board better get a plan together because the most important generator of Donations is Football: Win and donations go up, or lose and donations go down. Most importantly, game day receipts dry up with losing teams and the Spartans have posted a dreadful Big Ten record of 17 wins and 19 losses in the last 4 seasons, including a record of 4-5 in 2019. Hopefully the President and Board took note of future reality whereby 50,000 ticket holders stayed home during the Maryland game while a meager 25,000 showed up to watch a meaningless game last November!

At the bottom line, the folks who pay the freight, namely 50,000 students, 75,000 ticket holders and 500,000 alumni are not happy today, and sadly Michigan State Athletics looks totally inept. The President and AD better pay attention because the onus is on them to correct course.