Michigan State couldn't afford for Mel Tucker to leave. So two donors helped foot the bill
LSU needs a football coach.
So does USC.
But Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker isn’t going anywhere because a couple of boosters — OK, let’s be more clear, a couple of insanely rich MSU grads — won’t let him go.
In the old days — think Nick Saban, circa 1999 — Tucker would be packing his bags, talking to his agent, getting on a private plane and using MSU as a stepping stone to a massive payday someplace else.
Then, the inevitable would happen: MSU would fall back to earth. The Spartans would be searching for a new coach, take a chance on somebody most had never heard of, hope for the best and the rebuild would begin again.
SHAWN WINDSOR: Michigan State's investment in Mel Tucker permanently raises Spartans' standard
MITCH ALBOM: Mel Tucker's huge Michigan State payday plenty risky, but how much reward?
But everything has changed at MSU.
The Spartans have entered the big leagues of college football — a place where rich donors, massive money and sports come together.
This has been the norm at places like LSU or Texas.
Not at MSU.
Not until now, because Tucker has been offered a historic $95 million, 10-year contract extension to remain with the Spartans — thanks to a couple of rich MSU grads who will pay the bulk of his raise.
Those grads are Mat Ishbia, a former walk-on basketball player under Tom Izzo who has a net worth of $6.7 billion according to Forbes, and Steve St. Andre, an MSU marketing grad and founder of Shift Digital.
Add it all up and Tucker gets a massive payday to stay, becoming the second-highest paid coach in college, and the school gets stability.
Is it insane money? Yes. But that’s college sports.
An announcement could come as soon as Thursday.
MORE FROM SEIDEL: How Mel Tucker is building a program that'll last for a long time
Bleeding green and white
A couple of years ago, I spent time with Ishbia, the president and CEO of mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage in Pontiac, and I have to tell you that none of this surprises me.
Ishbia loves his school. He was a walk-on third-string point guard for the 2000 NCAA champions.
If you cut him open, I think you would find Sparty in his soul. There is a conference room called "The Breslin Center" at company headquarters in Pontiac. The conference table is made of wood from the real court in East Lansing. MSU photographs decorate the walls and there is a display of Final Four basketballs.
His office walls are decorated with framed jerseys, an NCAA championship poster and a display of basketballs.
Ishbia loves MSU, and he loves Izzo even more.
Izzo always says that it is important for the school to have a strong football and basketball programs. Because they can feed off each other.
So I’m not surprised at all, that Ishbia worked behind the scenes to keep Tucker.
But there is something else about Ishbia. He is the most competitive person I’ve ever met.
He wants to win at everything. Sports. Business. It’s all a competition to him.
But he still acts like a walk-on basketball player. Still holding that chip on his shoulder. Still fighting for respect. Trying to win every moment.
And he has taken that passion to MSU athletics, spreading around his money, trying to make a difference, trying to pay the school back. He donated a record $32 million to MSU athletics earlier this year and created a name, image and likeness deal with UWM to give $500 a month to every player on the football team and men’s basketball team at Michigan State.
Again, none of this surprises me.
In the lobby at United Shore, there are several metaphorical pillars. One of them states: “People are the greatest asset.”
So let me read the tea leaves here: Ishbia took one look at Tucker and sees a winner. He sees someone who has beaten Michigan twice in two years and has the Spartans heading to Ohio State with a chance to win the Big Ten Title.
And Ishbia basically said: There's no way I'm going to let you leave.
More Seidel: Michigan's Jim Harbaugh should stop whining & take lesson from Mel Tucker after ugly loss
Money doesn't equal success
You can say this feels premature. Tucker has only been at MSU for a cup of coffee.
You can say he built this team through the transfer portal, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
This is the state of college football.
You can say this is a risk.
But when a coach shows he can turn around a program fast — as he’s done at MSU — he becomes a hot commodity.
If there is another truth in big-time college athletics, it is this: hot coaches get massive raises, either to stay or to leave.
But this prevents Tucker from leaving to go to LSU or USC.
Having a huge donor behind a college program is nothing unusual.
Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, has pumped nearly $1 billion into Oregon, including hundreds of millions for athletics.
And Drayton McLane Jr., once the owner of the Houston Astros, gave $260 million to Baylor to fund a football stadium.
But having massive money behind a program does not guarantee success.
Oilman T. Boone Pickens donated more than a half billion to Oklahoma State athletics and academics over his lifetime.
The Cowboys have finished in the top 10 in the AP poll just once since Pickens donated $165 million to OSU in 2005 — the single largest gift for athletics in NCAA history.
So having Ishbia money and keeping Tucker doesn’t mean that MSU is guaranteed success.
But it means MSU has a chance to maintain stability.
This is the cost of keeping a hot coach.
The Spartans just entered big-time college athletics.
It guarantees nothing, except for one thing: Tucker’s not going anywhere.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel/.