Unknown Speaker 0:00
This edition of MSU. Today, Bill beakman, Vice President and Director of Athletics here, and we're excited to welcome to the program, head football coach Mel Tucker. So thanks for joining us now. Thanks for having me, Bill. So Mel, you've been a head coach here since February 12 of last year, and I remember the sequence of events really, really well. And so far as I was in the middle of it, and it was so exciting to to welcome you, JoJo your your sons, to the Breslin center that evening of February 12. And, and it's and then yet a month later, unbeknownst to you or me or any of us, we were in a completely different chaotic world. And as I've shared with so many people, although neither of us had any sense of what we were facing. One of the the first, one of the first things I discovered about you, is just your extraordinary resilience. At every turn, you just found a way to take the next hill. And so tell us a little bit about that chaotic first month, I think when we when we went into stay at home mode. I'm not sure you had all your coaches hired, let alone getting to meet all the players.

Unknown Speaker 1:27
Yeah, yeah, that was it take me back down memory lane there bill. And it was a, it was an extraordinary time. I was you know, so excited to be here at Michigan State. And I felt, you know, I felt honored and privileged to have the opportunity. And, you know, as you know, the first order of business, when you when you take over a program is assembling a coaching staff. And so that took up, you know, the lion's share of my of my time to try to get the best coaches here that we could get, you know, in, in short order, before, before spring ball, and as other universities were now gearing up for spring ball themselves. And so that was a you know, that was a 24 seven proposition. And as I remember, I was just in the final, the final stages of assembling the staff just got the strength coach in place. And, and, and it kind of got everyone under contract. And we were actually going to start spring ball the following Tuesday. And and then I remember I was going to make a trip down to I believe was Indianapolis for the big 10 basketball tournament. And I got word that they weren't going to have fans. And then a couple hours later, I got word that the time when the team was headed back to Islam. And at that point, that's one of the that's one of my world. The Chinese forever.

Unknown Speaker 3:10
Yes, I was. I was driving down to Indianapolis and I was filling in for president Stanley on a call with university presidents. And I got as far as Fort Wayne and it became clear that this was not going to happen. And so I never made it to India, I turned the car around at Fort Wayne and headed straight back north. But yeah, our entire our entire world changed. And so as you went through the that that late spring, and obviously we canceled spring football, which I think most people don't appreciate that the first time you saw your your student athletes in in pads, and actually hitting one another was about a month before our first game. And so, you know, the normal period of assessment and work that that a coach has to do was was turned into a sort of an almost overnight exercise for you. But one of the things that I thought was amazing was how your team how your coaching staff used technology to work with work with their, their, their, their athletes in the various positions to to learn the playbook to to go through the X's and O's and and doing all of that online over the course of the summer.

Unknown Speaker 4:34
There are our staff did a great job. Just really just adapting quickly to the situation. I mean, I think we got worried on a Thursday I think on Friday I send everyone home and said that we're going to be working home from home for a while and and get with it guys and get packed up and get your laptops and whatever you need to work from home and And then, you know, we started talking to our academic folks, and you know, what, what are what are our players going to do and, and they started, they started mentioning something called zoom, they said that the professors on campus were using zoom. And they recommended that we do the same. And so, you know, obviously, we're all, you know, saying, you know, what the heck is zoom, I never heard of that. And so that was a, that was a, that was our first challenge to figure out how to how to how to use zoom to, to communicate with our players, have team meetings, have unit meetings, individual meetings, figuring out how to how to put a background on the zoom, you know, zoom etiquette, lighting, you know, all the mute, you know, all of those deals, and it was it was fun, you know, we recognized, you know, right away that that was gonna be our, that was going to be our our most daunting challenges, how do we connect with our players, when they, when we're, we're a new staff, all the players have been sent back to their permanent homes. And we don't, they don't know us, and we don't know them, you know, and so just adapt, just to get to know, take out the extra nose, just introduce yourself and just get to know each other as people, you know, was it was done completely over zoom and FaceTime and phone calls and texts. And then also, you know, we needed to install, you know, our playbook on offense, defense and special teams. And so we had, we did that through zoom, and our coaches became very creative, and how to incorporate chalkboards and and, you know, tell us tell us writing and in, you know, unit meetings with guys, you know, in various places in the country, and it was just fascinating how, how quickly the players and the coaching staff adapt it. And now you look at zoom as, you know, zoom is like walking a dog now, it's, you know, it's like, it's like riding a bike. It's just normal, but at that time, it was it was not and there was a there was a learning curve. Some of our some of the learning curve for some of our coaches was steeper

Unknown Speaker 7:29
Yeah, I can I can sympathize with those for whom it was steep. I nobody's gonna call me a technology guru. And I now I feel like zoom is ubiquitous in our lives. And it's, it's sort of everywhere. And and I feel like I've got the hang of it. But yeah, it was a rocky road at the start. So you've, um, you know, you you started your, your early coaching career as a graduate assistant at MSU. Back in 1997. So now now, what was going on? 24 years ago? What? When you when you think about what it was like back then you're in the football program, what's, you know, or across campus? What's changed? What's the same? What were what were some of the things that that you've, you've noticed as you've been back on campus? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 8:22
that's a those were great memories. I remember I was so I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity that ko samen gave me to, to come here and start my coaching career at a at a great a great university with the with a football tradition, this, I mean, just huge. I mean, football sore, so important here at Michigan State. And so, you know, when I got here, you know, my focus was, what do I need to do to make Nick Saban happy? That was my that was that was my goal every day how, how can I get what do I have to do to get the job done? What does he need done? What do the coaches need? need done? And so my, my focus in my world was very, very small. It was pretty much to Duffy building and I think I shared a shared a townhouse with a couple of graduate assistant athletic trainers, somewhere off campus where I slept occasionally. But it was I really didn't get I didn't get to know a lot of the campus at that point. It was pretty much uh, you know, the Duffy, the Kellogg center for, you know, pregame meals and things like that in the stadium. And that was about it for me. That was that was in so when I came back in February this past February. I got a chance to see more a broader scope of the university and I became even more excited. And I saw some of those changes like 18 like the 1855 bill. Were your offices. I mean, that was a, that wasn't part of the that wasn't part of the campus landscape at that point, you know. And so there was I just saw a lot of a lot of a lot of changes. And then even some of the things in the stadium, the state, the new stadium, locker room, that whole deal, and then some of the changes here at the scapularis Center. It was just are just really felt like I was walking into a great situation where Michigan State had been progressive over the past 20 plus years, and was continuing to move forward,

Unknown Speaker 10:41
ya know, that, that North End Zone project is one area where I think we went from having, maybe not the worst game day locker room, but but but definitely in the, in the bottom handful, to just something that I think anybody could be proud of. And we treat our our visitors very, very well there and, and have nice space for for our team as well. But there have been a lot of changes. And I imagine working for for Coach Saban was a pretty unique experience. But obviously, you've done it several times over the course of your career. And it paid dividends. You know, when when our team started, knowing that coach Dantonio was retiring, started making phone calls, of course, you're one of the first people that that we called, was Coach Saban to get his advice. And I think people should know that he's got a huge, huge part of his heart is green and white. And I think always will be and, and, and he had nothing but wonderful things to say about Jews. So you know, it is one of those life lessons that what goes around comes around and hard work pays off. Because we know you certainly you've you've you've made a great friend in Coach Saban. So when you um, as you as you coach across the country, and you mentioned in Coach Saban, who are the Who are the people over your career that have been those, those mentors that have helped structure how you think about football, you know, how you think about people? And yeah, I think sometimes we get distracted in football, as in coaching is as a set of X's and O's. But as you said, one of your first tasks really was just getting to know your players and, and creating those relationships that that I've come to see is really as critical as anything. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 12:51
there's no doubt I mean, I have some, some great mentors. Over the years of starting with, you know, I had great High School, teachers and coaches. And then I was very fortunate, I got the opportunity to, to play at University of Wisconsin, I was in coach our reds, his first recruiting class in 1990. And he had just won a national championship with Lou Holtz and Notre Dame as a defensive coordinator and, and I was in his first class and you know, we were one in 10, my freshman year, and then we were five and six, and then the next year five and six, and then the fourth year, you know, Rose Bowl champs and so that was a, that was a great experience for me to be able to see a coach Coach has come in with his first head coaching job and literally laid a foundation culturally in Madison and build, you know, a championship, build a championship program and for years and so that that that had a huge lead left a huge impression on me and was an invaluable experience. Obviously, Nick Saban is a mentor of mine, he really laid the foundation for me in terms of my coaching philosophy, especially defensively and also recruiting and haven't worked with cost saving for cost saving in three different places. Here LSU and Alabama. And he's certainly taught me a lot and and I was like, like a sponge around him. You know, Jim Trussell at Ohio State. Had a, you know, he was just very influential in terms of how I how I how I really saw my role as a coach. You know, I left LSU I went to Ohio State. And, obviously coach Trussell at one For national championships at Youngstown State he's a Clevelander like myself. His dad was a Hall of Fame coach at division three national champion. And, you know, he, he, he preached to our coaching staff at Ohio State that we were servants of the community that we needed to be servant leaders in our, our task in our obligation was to serve the university and the great university community, and all of the the high school, the Ohio high school coaches in all of the alumni around the country, and we were there to serve them. And, and not and not just, you know, Coach ball and work with our players and so that that concept of servant leadership it really, really has stuck with me. And he he really led by example, in that regard. And then and enough I left Ohio State and I went to the NFL with Romeo canal. As a secondary coach. He had just won a Super Bowl with with with Bill belcheck. With the new New England Patriots, it was opportunity for me to coach him in my home from my hometown brownies, learn three four deep s and learn the you know, learn more about the Bill Parcells bill Bella check that whole that whole culture and that philosophy of of building programs and winning and things like that. And so he he taught me a lot of lessons about coaching in the National Football League, and there is a difference. And he took me under his wing and he actually, after my third season there, he actually made me the defensive coordinator. With the Cleveland Browns, I was the youngest deepest of coordinator in history to franchise I think I beat Marty Schottenheimer out by a couple of months there. And so those are the coaches that really have the greatest impact on me, especially as a young coach,

Unknown Speaker 17:17
so you mentioned the and you're you've had your great success and great experience, both at the college and professional level. And you mentioned that coaching at those levels is is different. There, there are some obvious differences, like, you know, recruiting in college is obviously something that isn't done at the pro level, but what are the what are what are some of the differences that people might be surprised or might not appreciate?

Unknown Speaker 17:48
Well, you know, there's a, in the NFL, you know, it's it's a is all business, there's just totally is totally business. And those players, that's their, that's their livelihood, you know, that's how they feed their families. And, and, and so when you're coaching at an NFL player, they don't have any use for you, if they don't believe that you know what you're doing? If you know, they all they want to know is Can this can this coach, help me? Help me stay in the league? You know, can he help me in any way provide for my family. And so and you have to and they make those those NFL players they make those assessments very quickly. And so you have to, in short order, gain the trust of of your players and prove to them that you are an asset, and that you can help them in their career, you can help them make the team stay on the team, help them get to the next contract, help them make as much money as they can while they can. And so you know that in you there's a lot less players, there's only 53 guys on the roster. And so a lot of individual individual conversations coaching, got to do a lot of listening, you know, when you're coaching NFL players, especially veteran players, but one of the things that's very similar is that at the end, the day is still football. And there's still there's there's fundamentals of the game that whether it's you know, whether it's Pop Warner, you know, high school, college or pro that they don't they don't they don't change and, and so it's really What it comes down to is how do you the challenge is how do you? How do you teach in code and emphasize technique and fundamentals, and the team concept in an environment where the tendency is every man for himself. And so many guys have gotten to the hat success hat have had enough success in their career, where what they do know already has worked for them. So if there's anything that you want to do differently, what did you think that you can help in any way? Then you better you better be a good salesman? And and because of not, they're not gonna listen to you

Unknown Speaker 20:47
know, that that does seem to be a Yeah, a unique issue with with college coaches that go to the pros, it's a, it's a very different way of working with working with people and and you see some people very successful, but but others, others really struggle on the, on the college side. Could you share a little bit about your, your philosophy in in recruiting? And, you know, we're right, in the sort of in the, in the middle end of of that cycle for this year? And? And and how do you? What what are you looking for? How do you how do you make those assessments and work with your, your staff to figure out who, who you want to make the next Spartan?

Unknown Speaker 21:41
Yeah, that's a that's a great question. Um, you know, recruiting is the lifeblood of your organization. You know, good players make a good coach, great players make a great coach. And, and when it comes, when it comes down to it, when you look at the best teams a year, year in and year out, they usually have the best players, and usually the most draft picks. So you know, the purpose of recruiting is to improve your team. You know, and it's very similar to the National Football League, the purpose of the draft in the free agency is to improve your team. And you always have to ask yourself, Is this player better than this player that's already on your roster? You know, and you have to make that can this player make? Can this student athlete make us better? And that, and then you also have to, you have to have a great understanding of who are the who, who are the best teams, in your, in your, in your conference? Who do you have to beat? And who are the best teams in the country? You got? And you have to ask yourself, what if we, if we recruit and saunas player, can he help us beat those, those programs? And if the answer is no, then you should not you should not be pursuing that that's to an athlete? If the answer is yes, then you should anticipate being and being in a dog fight, so to speak, for that player, because if a player can, if he can help you beat the best teams in your league and the best teams in the country. And he's in, he's going to make your team better. And he's probably one of the more highly recruited players in the country. And so our philosophy is that you have to recruit every day. Making sure that the player is a good fit, and you're not just collecting players, but you have to build a team. And so character is important. Academic, academic, standing is extremely important. We want guys that they want to graduate from Michigan State and have the ability to do that. And, but we are and we also want players that that that want to buy in to buy into something that's bigger than themselves. You know, they're all highly recruited players to have individual aspirations, you know, athletically, they all want to go to the NFL, but we want guys that want to believe in the believe in the concept of team and being unselfish in pouring into the team and understanding when the better the team does, the better they do individually. And so it's not just an athletic evaluation. It's also we're also doing our our best to evaluate some of the intangibles the things you can't see on tape, you know, character, you know, on selfishness, you know, teamwork, you know, you know, things Things like that, you know, discipline, maturity. And but it's, it's a, it's an inexact science, but we try to which we try to make it, we try to put, you know, we, we lay out the standards, we communicate the standards to the coding staff, so we all know what we're looking for. And at the end of the day, I have the final, the final say, if, if we're going to, you know, bring up software to our team, you know, it really,

Unknown Speaker 25:31
the buck stops with me. So we're, we're coming off a season with some really great wins against nationally ranked opponents, a strong Northwestern team, and, of course, a huge win in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines and, and very strong recruiting since then. So what, what excites you most about seeing the guy's back in action and really just a, just a month and a half or so as they'll as they'll get into spring football?

Unknown Speaker 26:02
Yeah, this is, uh, this is one of the more exciting times of the calendar year, you know, our players are back with we've been able to, you know, evaluate our guys that are returning, you know, and we know, you know, what they can do, what their strengths, what their weaknesses are. And the guys that are back are guys that want to be here, and we want to be here, they bought into our culture, they understand the expectations and the standards in you know, they're ready to work and so in, and I like to coin this this time of year as they out of season. I believe, as the end season and an odyssey season. There's never an offseason, you know, because football is a year round sport now. And so, you know, recruiting never stops, you know, really the training, you know, never really stops. And so, in this offseason time, you know, it's time for our coaching staff to do schema, evaluation, self Scout, and look for new ideas, look for things that that we know can help our players it's also a time for us to to indoctrinate the our mid year enrollees, our high school players and our transfers, we had 10 total non scholarship and one walk on. And so the onboarding of those, those student athletes to our to our culture is critical. And then our our Spartan training program, you know, STP, you know, start started today. So we'll have eight weeks of training in our in our weight room with our strength and conditioning staff. Because no back, you know, he has a great, has a great staff and I told him that I wanted this to be the most rigorous, demanding auto season training program in the history of sport. And he guaranteed that they will be that and so we're going to have eight weeks of strength conditioning that will prepare us for spring ball. I truly believe that your team is built in the weight room, you know, you want a team to first and foremost the best conditioned and, and fatigue makes cowards of us all and so the toughness of your team, the competitive nature, the sense of urgency, attention to detail, you know, grit, determination, straining, you know, overcoming adversity, having adversity, you know, all of those things. Really start in your weight room. You know, and so that's, that's, that's what's exciting about this time of year.

Unknown Speaker 28:51
Great. We've been, we've been joined today by Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker. And Mel, I always like to end with a maybe a little bit of an offbeat question or two. So let me ask you two two questions first, during your pro career, what was the toughest stadium to plan well, where were the Where were the fans the rowdiest in the nasty

Unknown Speaker 29:15
Oh boy. I'll tell you what. Then the NFL coaching there's there's some places that they really make a tough go on to Seattle is probably the loudest and they've got a DJ there and I swear they pipe they pipe music in there and I can remember coaching them preseason game they're in my ears were ringing for days and you literally could not hear anything on the headset while that and that was just a preseason. I can't imagine what that would be like during the during the regular season and playoffs as extremely loud. No when I was in Cleveland obviously the rivalry with with the Spring Stiller's This is huge, the terrible towel deal they were pretty good at, you know, at that point. And that was a that was a tough, tough environment. When I was in when I was with the bears, you know, obviously Green Bay is a huge game. And you know, coaching, like go play in a Green Bay is seems very similar to to it's like a college atmosphere. They know what the tailgating and the fans and the just how loud they are and how the passion they have for their team is uh, I mean it's, it's, it's incredible. So it's a it's an experience I think that that that everyone should should have is to be able to, to take in a game in that type of environment. So those are some of the loudest most raucous venues that I've that I've coached. And

Unknown Speaker 31:00
it's our last question, What's your favorite thing to have for dinner?

Unknown Speaker 31:03
My favorite thing for dinner would be lamb chops. with mint jelly, and the healthy a healthy portion of asparagus there and maybe a mashed potato there with a little butter and some some pepper sprinkled on that would be that would be ideal for me. If I need to find a way to get my weight down a little bit, then I will swap out the lamb chops for more of a sea bass or a snapper or grouper entree.

Unknown Speaker 31:49
Very good. Well, that's Mel Tucker, Michigan state's head football coach. Thanks so much for joining us today and we look forward to an exciting season this year. Thanks for having me. Bill. Go Green. Go white.

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