Mel Tucker crossed an obvious line at MSU. How did he think this would end?
Around dinnertime on July 7, 2022, I received the first indication that something was up with the way Mel Tucker presented himself to the public in my email.
The email came from a well-known New York public relations firm offering “uninterrupted time with beloved MSU Head Football Coach Mel Tucker,” which included a tour of Michigan State’s facilities, time on the driving range, and “bourbon/cigar hours” with Mel and the guys where Schmaltz aside, any sports journalist would be thrilled to get that type of intimate, informal access to a well-known football coach, especially in light of how many programs these days have cut off access to the media. However, something about that offer felt utterly extravagant.
Why did Tucker, who was the talk of college football after going 11-2 and signing a new 10-year, $95 million contract deal, use the services of a pricey PR agency to organize a press junket that would only serve to elevate his reputation? you’d be regaled with tales of his “leadership skills, coaching successes, and how he’s preparing for the upcoming football season.” Even worse, they planned to organize and finance everyone’s travel to East Lansing, which is obviously against the ethical code of any respectable journalistic agency.
It appeared fake. Which, in hindsight, hinted at everything that was going to occur.
By the time Tucker’s offer was presented to the media, he had already had the notorious April 28, 2022, phone chat with rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy, during which he reportedly masturbated and made inappropriate sexual remarks. He was aware that his connection with Tracy had changed in a way that would give him issues by the time he was attempting to lure reporters to East Lansing.
In reality, Tucker reportedly canceled Tracy’s in-person training with Michigan State players and coaches slated for July 25 on July 22, the same day the press junket was meant to finish.
The subsequent series of events, which culminated in Tucker’s termination on Wednesday, marked the end of one of the most peculiar coaching tenures in recent memory. That’s a fairly high bar to cross, especially in light of examples like Mike Price, who was fired from Alabama without even coaching a game, or Bobby Petrino’s motorbike voyage to hell in human resources.
But now, Tucker, who recently signed one of the most expensive coaching contracts in history and is positioned to emerge as one of the sport’s new faces, has firmly inserted himself into the mix. Even the priciest crisis management professionals are powerless to turn this one around.
It was simply a coincidence that the Tucker PR campaign took place about the same time that his relationship with Tracy went from being troublesome to really being a threat to his job. However, it also ties into the main plot of this novel, in which Tucker discovers that performing his job successfully wasn’t enough to earn him a huge contract in the first place.
Coaches are, by nature, salespeople, but Tucker was making a lot of effort to sell a picture that didn’t match the reality of what was happening in the background. He wasn’t very skilled at explaining things when investigators questioned him, so that he couldn’t get his narrative straight on different topics.
Unfortunately, this story’s profundity ends there.
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