EAST LANSING, Mich. — Just hours after Cincinnati's Luke Fickell turned down an offer to replace Mark Dantonio as MSU's former head football coach, the search committee moves ahead to plan B.
FOX 47's Seth Wells was outside of the MSU athletics building just off of Harrison Road where the Michigan State Board of Trustees met for about two hours Monday evening with the search committee in charge of finding the next head coach.
The meeting was held in a conference room just outside of Athletic Director Bill Beekman's office. In the meeting, trustees were given an update on the status of the search, leaving at least one trustee happy.
"It went really well. We had a nice update, yes," said Brian Mossalam, MSU Board Trustee.
The opening at Michigan State comes after the now-former head coach Mark Dantonio retired after 13 seasons in East Lansing last Tuesday. Dantonio retired as the all-time winningest coach in program history with 114 wins. He said the decision came after talking with his family.
"This is a decision that had been weighing on me. I don't think this is a big secret, probably for quite a while. I'm going to be 64-years-old," Dantonio said. "Some of those things you can't control come across your desk as well. So it's the things like that I fell like that I just found myself never having an opportunity to come up for air."
Dantonio said he believes MSU will get a great coach who cares about the future of the MSU football program.
Spartan basketball coach Tom Izzo, who is involved in the search for a new coach, said he also believes MSU will get a good coach, but told the media the timing is a little difficult currently.
Right now, Mike Tressel will serve as the acting head coach while the university conducts a search to replace Dantonio.
Tressel is listed as the Spartans' Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Linebackers Coach.
Want to see more local news ? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Appleand Android
and
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
