Rico Beard: The case for Marcus Freeman as Michigan State's next head coach
Rico Beard, host of the “5 Star Zone,” and contributor to the Spartans Illustrated Message Board, shared his thoughts on the Michigan State coaching search.
Beard sounds off on the current situation, and explains why Marcus Freeman, the current head coach at Notre Dame could be the best option for the Spartans moving forward.
The episode, titled “Should Michigan State Target Marcus Freeman?,” was released on Sept. 25, a day before Mel Tucker’s contract could be terminated by Michigan State University.
"If you guys haven’t noticed yet, I’m just about winning,” Beard mentioned in his podcast. “If you would just be honest with yourself, it is about winning. If you’re constantly going 7-5, 8-4, you will eventually want that coach fired. But if you have a coach out there who is getting it done, you overlook a lot of things. But I do say: Marcus Freeman.”
Freeman, who was named the head coach at Notre Dame in December of 2021, has built an impressive resume thus far in his young career. In his first full season with the Fighting Irish, Freeman led his team to wins over four ranked teams, including a victory over No. 5-ranked Clemson. Additionally, he has produced a handful of All-Americans.
Last weekend, Notre Dame played in a prime-time matchup against Ohio State, and ultimately ended up losing on a last-second play. Freeman and the Fighting Irish were immediately brought under the microscope and were the laughingstock of the college football world after they lined up with only 10 players on the field for the last two plays. This led a lot of Notre Dame fans to question whether Freeman is truly the right person for the job.
Beard mentioned that “there are reports that Freeman is making $2.5 to $3 million. If Michigan State walked in there and just simply doubled his salary … if you give him a base of $6 million, I don’t think that Notre Dame would match that, especially right now. Things are not looking good for him. They (Notre Dame fans) are angry, they’re upset.”
Beard mentions that Michigan State can in fact compete with the blue bloods in college football. He noted that “Michigan State has the money, Michigan State has the resources, Michigan State is building a $30 million football facility and athletic complex.”
It is well known that Tucker’s contract at Michigan State was worth $95 million over the span of 10 years, and Beard said that “talking to some big-time boosters, I think this is something that they would be willing to open up their pocketbooks for if Freeman was to come to Michigan State.”
From a recruiting perspective, Beard mentioned that Freeman “checks a lot of boxes," and could make an immediate impact in that regard.
“This guy can recruit," Beard said about Freeman. "He has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation right now, and if he just brought a third of those guys to Michigan State, you wouldn’t even care about anybody who decommits.”
Beard went further and explained that Freeman is familiar with the area, and played at Ohio State.
Beard emphasized, “the man can flat out recruit,” and thinks that Freeman would put together a staff and would “be a good fit” in East Lansing.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and discuss it in our premium forums.
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