Louisville Football: Could Mel Tucker be the next Charlie Strong?

Louisville football continues the search for its next head coach, and although Mel Tucker doesn’t have much head coaching experience, he could take the same path to prominence as former Louisville head coach Charlie Strong.

As the coaching search continues for Louisville football, no stone will be left unturned for athletic director Vince Tyra.

After seemingly throwing most of his eggs into the Jeff Brohm basket leading to a heart-breaking decision to stay at Purdue, Tyra may choose to slow-play the rest of the hiring process. The idea of hiring Brohm was to give Louisville an immediate shot at turning things around. Brohm could have come to Louisville right away, brought a good chunk of his players and recruits (he said as much here), and gotten Louisville back to its winning ways in year one.

But, without Brohm, Louisville is staring a multiple year rebuild right in the face. Granted, things could be different than they are perceived. Perhaps there is much more talent on the current Louisville squad than former head man Bobby Petrino could squeeze out of them. But, today, it is safe to assume that there is a culture problem in Louisville- and although it shouldn’t be too terribly hard to improve on a 2-10 season, there appears to be a long road ahead for the next Louisville coach.

But, speaking of new Louisville coaches, allow us to throw one more hat into the “legit coaches that should be on our radar” ring: Georgia DC Mel Tucker.

Who is Mel Tucker? Well, by god, I’m glad you asked.

Tucker is the well-travel, well-paid defensive coordinator of the No.4 Georgia Bulldogs, who’s name has been on nearly every head coaching vacancy list in the country over the last few years.

Tuckers roots are in the NFL, where he spent 2005-2014 with the Browns, the Jaguars, and the Bears. In 2015, he joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as the defensive backs coach, and then moved a year later with Kirby Smart to Georgia, where he currently serves as the defensive coordinator. Along the way, Tucker got experience as the interim head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he went 2-3 to finish the season.

Prior to his 9 years in the NFL, Tucker spent a year under Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher at LSU before coaching for four seasons under Jim Tressel at Ohio State. Tucker was the defensive backs coach for the 2001 National Championship team.

So, Tucker spent time learning under Nick Saban (twice), Jim Tressel, Jimbo Fisher, and Kirby Smart, and spent the majority of his 30’s as a respected defensive coordinator in the NFL.

Tucker is just waiting for his shot, but should it come at Louisville? Let’s take a deeper look.

Pros:

Tucker is well-traveled

Tucker is certainly well-traveled. He has been a defensive coordinator at a ton of spots, and all at the highest level in the game. Tucker has proven himself time and time again at the highest level in college football, and is just waiting to hear his name called for a head coaching gig.

Having a legend like Nick Saban want you on staff twice looks pretty nice on the ole resume, and add in a five game stint as a head coach at the NFL level- It is safe to say that Tucker has enough experience.

Still, he is just now hitting the prime of his career. At 46 years old, with over 20 years of experience, it seems like now is the perfect time for Tucker to start his head coaching career.

Tucker preaches discipline

If there is one thing that has been harped on throughout the hiring process by Vince Tyra, it is that he wants to hire a coach that will bring discipline. And Tucker? He brings exactly that. When asked about Georgia’s defense this year, in his own words, he said:

"“I really feel strongly about this: It is not a Mel Tucker defense,” Tucker said in August. “It is the University of Georgia defense, and it’s going to be a team effort. Our foundation is going to be in the best condition, to play with technique and fundamentals, play smart, play fast, play physical and just overall, a brand of relentless defense and relentless football — high velocity, nonstop. We want to stop the run, and we want to affect the quarterback with rush and coverage. We want to force takeaways, we want to be great in special situations and make people he can which check don’t give up big plays. In a nutshell, that’s what we’re trying to do.”"

Okay, yes, I am down for that. What Tucker is preaching here is everything that Louisville wasn’t in 2018. Say no more, Mel.

Recruiting Mastermind

Bobby Petrino sucked at recruiting. Look, I don’t want to sit here and dog on the guy, but dang, that dude had the personality of a rock- and recruits saw that. Tucker, however, brings an excellent recruiting history along with him.

Take one quick look at Tucker’s top composite commits list, and it is a who’s who of stud 4 and 5-star commits from Florida, Georgia, and Texas. His players love him too, check out these quotes from Cyrus Jones and Eddie Jackson, who both played for Tucker and now are impact NFL players.

Jones:

"“(He’s) very motivated. He knows how to get the best out of his players. A lot of coaches really don’t click with players a lot. He’s definitely one of those guys you can’t help but love to play for.”"

And Jackson:

"“He brought a lot of energy. He preaches at us, screams at us, yells at us day-in and day-out: ‘Break on the ball, scoop and score, rip it out, rip it out.’ Things like that. It really motivates us and gets us going.”"

Tucker is a guy, like Charlie Strong, who can go into Florida and Georgia and continue to develop the pipeline to Louisville. The city and university have become a home away from home for current and former Cards from the southern states, and Tucker would be the perfect guy to continue that trend.

Cons:

Lack of head coaching experience

This is pretty much the one and only knocks on Tucker. If a guy is this talented, this good as a defensive coordinator, and this promising as a head coach and recruiter, why is nobody paying him $2-3 million a year to be a head coach at their school?

Maybe the answer is a simple as the reason Clemson’s Brent Venables isn’t looking to go anywhere- he doesn’t want to be a head coach, or at least not yet.

But maybe it is something different. Maybe ADs around the country are viewing Tucker as a coach that is a great coordinator, but wouldn’t make for a great head coach. But, given his track record and what players have to say about him, that becomes extremely hard to believe.

What I choose to believe is that Tucker is waiting for the right move. And, just like Charlie Strong at Florida, when the right job comes open, and the opportunity is right, he is going to jump at it.

It is hard to see Tucker waiting too much longer. There have been rumblings of the possibility of him taking the Colorado job (weird), and North Carolina (which is now filled).

Maybe Louisville makes the most sense for Tucker. If so, it’s hard to see there being a more viable candidate than Tucker at this time. Just like Charlie Strong did in 2010, he could bring excellent defense and discipline, along with a great history as a recruiter and make an immediate impact.