Texas A&M football: 5 candidates who could replace Mike Elko
By Jeff Shull
Mike Tressel – Michigan State
Of all the names on this list, Mike Tressel might be the toughest to pry away from his current job. Tressel has been a main stay with Mark Dantonio at each of his last two stops. He was an assistant for Dantonio in the three years at Cincinnati before following him to Michigan State in 2007.
Tressel has been the linebackers coach for the entire 12 years with the Spartans, was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2014 and took over as the sole defensive coordinator in 2018. The Spartans have won with defense for Dantonio’s entire tenure. They’ve had a top 10 defense (in terms of yards) six times since 2011, and four of those years they also had a top 10 scoring defense.
Michigan State was No. 8 in scoring defense and No. 10 in total defense in 2018. It was no fault of their defense they went 7-6 last season. They allowed less than 20 points in three of their losses, and less than 30 in all six.
People compare Michigan State to Texas A&M historically, although the Spartans have had much more success in the past decade. Tressel is a major part of that and would likely take a big check to get him out of East Lansing.