The Michigan State coaching search cost a pretty penny in a number of ways.
Obviously hiring Mel Tucker as the Spartans new head coach resulted in him nearly doubling his own salary after leaving Colorado. Then the school ponied up to give him a huge salary pool too.
But finding Mark Dantonio’s successor also resulted in the school cutting a rather large check. Six-figures, in fact, for not very much work.
As uncovered by MLive.com, MSU plaid search firm DHR International a hefty $100,000 for roughly two weeks of work as part of landing Tucker. The firm was officially retained on January 31 -- a few days before Dantonio stepped down -- and Tucker was hired roughly eight days later.
What’s wild is that the DHR partner who helped the program conduct the search, Glenn Sugiyama, is a Spartans alum. No home town discounts in this business it seems.
Also notable that for as much as the school paid, there wasn’t a ton of discretion. Tucker notably (and publicly) turned them down initially. Private planes were tracked before and after trying to woo Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell. Even names like Bret Bielema were floated as it seemed things were getting off track in East Lansing.
It will all be worth it for Michigan State if Tucker wins big of course. Every single penny.
But it also just goes to show you that many of us covering college football are in the wrong business when looking at some of the figures being thrown around for things like this coaching search.