Ex-Buffs coach Tucker hit with show-cause order by NCAA

Want to hire Mel Tucker?

If you’re a college-football program, you’d better be prepared with a good justification as to why he shouldn’t be suspended from 30 percent of the season right off the bat.

The former CU football head coach — better known in these parts as “Midnight Mel” for the manner in which he ditched the Buffs following his only season in Boulder to dash off to Michigan State in February 2019 — was given a “show-cause” order by the NCAA as part of a three-year probation issued to the Spartans football program on Wednesday.

Tucker “failed to adequately monitor his program,” according to the NCAA, although he was not adjudged to have committed the recruiting violations that led fourteen Michigan State wins over the 2022-24 seasons to be vacated because of the participation of three players ruled to be ineligible.

Under Tucker’s stewardship, MSU staff “arranged for and provided impermissible recruiting inducement and benefits and unofficial visit expenses,” per the NCAA findings. His staff also “engaged in impermissible contacts with prospective student-athletes.”

Tucker was suspended by Michigan State two games into the 2023 season, his fourth campaign on the job, and subsequently fired on Sept. 27, 2023 following allegations of sexual harassment. Tucker filed suit against MSU citing wrongful termination in the summer of 2024.

In October 2024, his alleged victim filed a lawsuit against him, citing defamation. She sued Michigan State’s board of trustees earlier this year.

Tucker has not coached since being fired by Michigan State. He compiled a 20-14 record in East Lancing, including an 11-2 season in 2021 that ended with a Peach Bowl win.

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