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We’ve an replace on Michigan State’s teaching search. Over the previous 24 hours, Clint Cosgrove, Ryan O’Bleness, and David Harns have been talking with sources and evaluating notes. Right here’s what we are able to verify as of Nov. 3, 2023.
Michigan State is presently pursuing 4 candidates for its head soccer coach opening. To be clear, our sources usually are not indicating that these are the one candidates Michigan State is wanting into for the top teaching emptiness.
Michigan State has its listing and is now within the technique of attempting to safe interviews, a course of that didn’t start till the center of this week. From our understanding, we don’t consider a proper interview has taken place as of but.
A number of sources with direct information of the teaching search have confirmed to us that Michigan State is closely within the following 4 coaches:
– Jake Dickert (Washington State head coach)
– Jonathan Smith (Oregon State head coach)
– Lance Leipold (Kansas head coach)
– Dave Clawson (Wake Forest head coach)
Their representatives have been contacted by Michigan State, based on our sources, and formal interviews are being pursued. Whereas researching and vetting this story, we have now discovered that Michigan State prefers a sitting head coach that has achieved a sure degree of success. Our sources point out MSU’s desire is for an skilled head coach, quite than elevating a coordinator.
Info is gradual to come back out as a result of Michigan State is purposefully conserving issues near the vest, and since the Spartans want to rent a head coach who’s presently main a unique program. The coaches into consideration would like to not be publicly tied to MSU at this juncture as they’ve one other locker room to keep up. Their folks need to maintain it as quiet as potential.
Whereas we’re not ruling out coordinators or different coaches (Elko, and many others) at this juncture, our sources point out that it appears extra doubtless that MSU is focusing on head coaches who’ve expertise working profitable applications.
Dickert, Smith and Leipold have been introduced up earlier than – each on this website and elsewhere – however we heard Clawson’s title as a official candidate for the primary time right now.
Dickert (age 40) and Smith (age 44) make sense as younger coaches who can be thought of to have a number of potential with the sources Michigan State can supply. Bear in mind, the Pac-12 Convention can also be crumbling, and Washington State and Oregon State are the final remaining colleges within the convention, which can clearly result in misplaced income and extra restricted sources for these two colleges.
Smith is an Oregon State alumnus and all of his teaching stops have been out west, nevertheless, and that might maintain him in Corvallis. But when there was ever a time to have a look at younger Pac-12 coaches and entice them to make a transfer to the Midwest, it will be now.
In the meantime, Dickert has Midwest roots as he’s initially from Wisconsin. He is also already skilled in taking up a program amidst turmoil. Dickert was employed as Washington State’s defensive coordinator in 2020. In 2021, then-head coach Nick Rolovich (and a number of other assistants) had been fired for failing to adjust to COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Dickert was made the interim head coach in October of 2021, named the everlasting head coach in November of that 12 months, and has been on the helm ever since.
Clawson (age 56) and Leipold (age 59) could also be older than what some followers are hoping for, however each have confirmed their skill to show struggling applications round. Clawson has had a profitable file at his final three head teaching stops: Richmond, Bowling Inexperienced and Wake Forest.
Leipold has turned across the applications at each of his current stops. He went 37-33 within the six seasons at Buffalo. Previous to that, the Bulls had a mixed file of 27-45. In the meantime Leipold had led Kansas to back-to-back six-win seasons (and counting in 2023), and the final time the Jayhawks received six video games in a season earlier than that was in 2008 (eight wins). Earlier than Buffalo, Leipold had a ridiculous file of 109-6 at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater.
What would these coaches be capable to do with Michigan State’s sources within the Large Ten?
Right here is fast recap of general information and 2023 information for the 4 coaches talked about:
– Lance Leipold: 160-58 general, 14-19 at Kansas and 6-2 in 2023 (coming off of a win versus Oklahoma)
– Dave Clawson: 153-138 general, 63-58 at Wake Forest and 4-5 in 2023 (coming off of a loss versus Duke)
– Jonathan Smith: 32-33 general (all at Oregon State), 6-2 in 2023 (coming off of a loss versus Arizona)
– Jake Dickert: 14-13 general (all at Washington State), 4-4 in 2023 (coming off of a loss versus Arizona State)
As for City Meyer, sources proceed to inform Spartans Illustrated that it is rather unlikely to occur. We’ve additionally now heard from sources very near Meyer’s camp that he’s not within the job. We won’t utterly rule it out as of now, however the probabilities City Meyer turns into Michigan State’s subsequent head coach stay extremely low.
To reiterate, this doesn’t essentially imply that Michigan State is down to those 4 candidates or that certainly one of them will finally be employed as MSU’s head coach. It’s at all times potential that different names can emerge later, however these candidates look like close to the highest of Michigan State’s listing as of now.
We’ll proceed to report on what this implies and what this seems to be like shifting ahead. Clearly, rather a lot can nonetheless change, and now that the calendar has modified to November, exercise will doubtless proceed to extend.
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