From $95 Million to Nothing: Why Did Mel Tucker Get Fired by Michigan State Football?

Former Spartans coach Mel Tucker went from one of the highest-paid coaches in college football to unemployed — and not just unemployed, but out nearly $80 million. In 2021, per ESPN, Michigan State University gave him a 10-year, $95 million contract. Less than two years later, he was fired for cause.

Why exactly did Mel Tucker get fired just two years after signing a massive contract? The answer lies in a chain of decisions, a university investigation, and a scandal that went public in the worst possible way.

His firing wasn’t just about what happened off the field. It was about the standards he was expected to uphold, and how the university says he broke them.

It all started with Brenda Tracy, a nationally recognized sexual assault prevention advocate who was hired to speak to the football team. Brenda Tracy filed a complaint with Michigan State’s Title IX office in late 2022, accusing Mel Tucker of making multiple unwanted sexual advances during their professional relationship. According to ESPN, she said he masturbated during a phone call without her consent. Furthermore, he later withdrew an invitation for her to return, seemingly in retaliation.

Mel Tucker didn’t deny the incident, but claimed the call was part of a consensual romantic relationship — something Tracy flatly denied. The university said that even if his account were true, it still violated multiple clauses in his contract. Brenda Tracy was a university vendor, not a private acquaintance. The school cited “unprofessional and unethical behavior” and said he had brought public “contempt and ridicule” to the institution.

On Sept. 27, 2023, Michigan State fired Mel Tucker for cause, eliminating the nearly $80 million remaining on his contract. His buyout vanished overnight.

While the termination stood on its own, the Title IX investigation continued. In October 2023, an independent hearing officer found that Mel Tucker had indeed violated the school’s sexual misconduct policy. The ruling cited repeated inconsistencies in his statements and found Brenda Tracy’s account to be more consistent, detailed, and supported by evidence.

Per ESPN, Mel Tucker did not attend the hearing, citing a medical issue. Instead, his legal team sent a 106-page letter to the media and the school’s board of trustees, claiming to have new evidence that discredited Brenda Tracy’s story. According to USA Today, the letter included redacted text messages obtained from the phone of Mel Tracy’s late business manager, who had died earlier that year in a car accident. The messages, according to legal experts, had little to no bearing on the misconduct claims.

Brenda Tracy sought — and briefly received — an emergency restraining order to stop further release of those messages, claiming they were obtained and used without consent. Though that order was later dismissed, Michigan State’s stance didn’t change.

A separate appeal officer upheld the misconduct ruling in January of the following year, and the university permanently banned Mel Tucker from future employment.