Jay Johnson, Offensive Coordinator: HIRED
* He was one of the first two coaches hired by Tucker at Colorado last year and there are clear indications that he was Tucker's first choice to be offensive coordinator at Michigan State as well. SpartanMag.com had it from sources for more than a week that he would likely be coming to Michigan State as Tucker's offensive coordinator.
Previously, he was an offensive analyst for Kirby Smart at Georgia. According to his bio, he assisted in all off-field phases of game planning and recruiting at Georgia.
[Being an analyst for an elite program isn't a bad gig. Consider that Butch Jones, Mike Stoops, Major Applewhite and Mike Locksley are or were analysts for Nick Saban lately. They aren't officially high-paying gigs, but are good landing spots for guys with existing contracts elsewhere.]
Prior to being an analyst at Georgia, he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Tracy Claeys at Minnesota in 2016. That team went 9-4 before Claeys was fired due to an off-field scandal.
Prior to that, he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana Lafayette from 2011-15.
In 2010, he was quarterbacks coach at Central Michigan. CMU was No. 17 in the nation in passing offense that year when Dan Enos was in his first year.
He is a native of Minnesota who attended Northern Iowa.
Scottie Hazelton, Defensive Coordinator: HIRED
* Interviewed at Michigan State earlier this week.
* Was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Kansas State in 2019.
* Served as defensive coordinator at linebackers coach at Wyoming, 2017-18.
* Linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2014-16.
* Defensive coordinator, Nevada, 2013.
* Linebackers coach, USC, 2012.
* Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, North Dakota State, 2010-11.
* Defensive line coach, North Dakota State, 2007-09
* Linebackers coach, Michigan Tech, 2006.
* Native of Thornton, Colo.
* Played linebacker at Fort Lewis College, in Durango, Colo., 1992-94.
Ron Burton, Defensive Assistant: HIRED
* Retained as a defensive assistant coach. Not sure of the position. He was a defensive line coach for Mark Dantonio from 2013 to 2019, and played linebacker in the NFL.
* Was rumored to have taken a position at Indiana, but that is on hold now.
Mike Tressel, Defensive Assistant: HIRED
* Retained as a defensive assistant at Michigan State, possibly linebackers coach.
* Was defensive assistant for Mark Dantonio from 2007-2019, including 2015-17 as co-defensive coordinator and 2018-19 as defensive coordinator.
* Tucker said on Feb. 24 that official titles for Tressel and Burton would be announced soon. Speculation is that Tucker is awaiting the hiring of a defensive coordinator before settling on defensive assistant coaching duties.
Chris Kapilovic, Offensive Line Coach: HIRED
* New offfensive line coach, Michigan State.
* Kapilovic, 50, offensive line coach and run game coordinator last year at Colorado.
* Was the third coach hired by Tucker last year at Colorado, after the two coordinators.
* Was o-line coach at North Carolina and Southern Mississippi for Larry Fedora from 2008-18.
* Was co-offensive coordinator at UNC from 2014-15.
* Kapilovic is a native of Phoenix, Ariz., and played at Missouri State.
“Chris is very passionate about the game of football and is a master motivator,” Tucker said in a university press release issued on Feb. 17. “He’s a great teacher who puts a premium on technique and fundamentals. He’s hard-nosed and will have his offensive line ready to play. He’s an outstanding football coach.”
Courtney Hawkins, Wide Receivers Coach: HIRED
* New wide receivers coach, Michigan State.
* Hawkins, 50, is athletic director and head coach at Flint Beecher High School.
* Former Michigan State standout under George Perles who played eight years in the NFL.
* Was head coach at Beecher for 14 years, making the playoffs in 13 of those seasons, including three conference titles and one regional championship.
Harlon Barnett, Defensive Backs Coach: HIRED
* Defensive coach.
* Former Michigan State and Florida State defensive coordinator.
* Was at the Michigan State-Maryland basketball game, sitting with Burton and Tressel, wearing MSU gear. Sources indicate that Barnett is squarely on Tucker's radar for a possible position. Barnett's lucrative Florida State contract, which expires in December, is a factory.
Ted Gilmore, Tight Ends Coach: HIRED
* Former wide receivers coach at Wisconsin.
* Gilmore, 52, been WRs coach at Wisconsin since 2015, has been passing game coordinator for the Badgers since 2017.
* He previously was WRs coach for the Oakland Raiders (2012-14), USC (2011), Nebraska (2005-2010).
* Was assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska from 2008-2010 under Bo Pelini.
* Also coached WRs at Colorado (2003-04), Purdue (2001-02) and Wyoming (1997-98). Was tight ends coach at Kansas in 1999.
* Played at Wyoming from 1988-89.
* Is a native of Wichita, Kan.
Ross Els, Special Teams Coordinator: HIRED
* Inside linebackers/special teams coach at Colorado.
* Els coached inside linebackers at Colorado for three seasons. Tucker retained Els from previous coach Mike MacIntyre's staff.
* When Els joined Tucker's staff, Els added special teams coordinator to his duties.
* Els, who will be 54 next season, will be a 30-year veteran of collegiate coaching next season. He has coached in 212 Division 1-A (FBS) games and seven bowl games.
* A native of Lincoln, Neb., he was defensive coordinator at Purdue under Darrell Hazell in 2016.
* Els was a linebackers coach at Nebraska under Bo Pelini from 2011-14. He was special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator for his last three years at Nebraska.
* He was linebackers coach at Ohio University under Frank Solich from 2005 to 2010, spending four years as special teams coordinator.
* Els coached four years at New Mexico State, serving as defensive coordinatoar for two years.
* Els was head coach at Hastings College in Hastings, Neb., from 1997-2000. He also spent one year as QBs coach and one year as defensive coordinator at Hastings.
* He was also a defensive backs coach at Northern Iowa (1994) and Nebraska-Omaha (1990-93).
STRENGTH COACH
Jason Novak: HIRED
* Strength and Conditioning Coach
* Served as Head of Physical Conditioning at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in 2019.
* Was Director of Strength and Conditioning at Central Michigan from 2015-18.
* Assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Tennessee Titans for 11 years.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS
Geoff Martzen: HIRED
* Director of Player Personnel.
* Was director of player personnel at Colorado. Previously held similar positions at UCLA and Colorado State.
Cody Cox: HIRED
* Director of Football Operations.
Lisa Ben-Chaim: HIRED
* Director of On Campus Recruiting
* Was On Campus Assistant Recruiting Coordinator at Arizona State in 2019.
Darien Harris: HIRED
* Director of Player Engagement.
* Among other duties, Harris will assist former players in their transition into life after football.
Last edited:
