Mel Tucker scandal should not benefit Michigan State, but it will

Secretly, the grossest thing about this Mel Tucker scandal — outside of all of the unverifiable suggestions being sent to the Deadspin general email — is that Michigan State might actually benefit from its own incompetence. Tucker can be owed an $80 million buyout if he were fired for being an abhorrent football coach as opposed to only an (allegedly) abhorrent human being.

A sexual misconduct case gives Sparty the ammo to let go of its struggling coach with cause, and not should pony up the money for its embarrassing mistake.

The Title IX criticism against Tucker was filed in December after the Spartans finished a 5-7 season, and if the Michigan State brass had any foresight, morals, or common sense they might’ve leaped at the chance to dismiss Tucker then. Now, 10 months later, there should be questions on who’s in charge, how this sort of stuff keeps happening in East Lansing, and who should get to select the subsequent football coach.

This week, interim university president Teresa Woodruff and other MSU officials said they didn’t have specific details of the incident until early Sunday, and I haven’t heard an excuse that feeble since Tucker tried to pin the mishandling of a concussed player on his medical staff two weeks ago. Allegations of the #MeToo nature are all the time serious, and the one technique to approach them is in a proactive manner.

Waiting for another person to show over the rock since you’re afraid to look under it is cowardice to the fullest extent, and Michigan State should should pay someone $80 million because of this of its inaction. Obviously, Tucker doesn’t deserve a dime, but perhaps a nonprofit supporting victims of sexual assault and domestic violence could use a brand new facility?

The college allegedly needed to solicit money from wealthy alumni — including Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia — when MSU was in negotiations with Tucker for his record contract extension two years ago, and I desperately need to live in a world where consequences exist for powerful people, and corporations.

Michigan State is every bit a for-profit organization, and like several other company facing allegations of fostering, or enabling, predatory behavior, is running the scandal playbook of shirking responsibility, and attributing the behavior to some of bad apples acting independently. At most, the varsity will lose a lawsuit, and should allocate a number of the money it’s printing elsewhere, only marginally disrupting the machine.

In attempting to persuade the general public that the institution is popping over a brand new leaf, and putting the “MSU of old” within the rearview, the bozos in charge brought back Mark Dantonio. The previous Spartan coach also has a history of botching sexual misconduct allegations, and also you literally cannot make these things up.

The Spartans visit Washington on Saturday, a team that kicked in its teeth last yr, and are 16 points dogs. That line likely would’ve been vastly closer if the team didn’t have an interim head coach in Week 3 of the season, but that’s where Michigan State is at without delay.

I assume a lost season led by a man who hasn’t coached in 4 years is technically a punishment, but attending to hit the reset button, without having to pay for it, is a luxury only a few colleges are afforded, and Michigan State should not be so lucky.