Michigan State Spartans football coach Mel Tucker speaks to the media on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in East Lansing. Detroit Free Press
EAST LANSING — Mel Tucker’s first Michigan State football staff is complete. And he raided another Power 5 program to land an architect for his defense.
Tucker hired Scottie Hazelton from Kansas State as the Spartans’ defensive coordinator, the 10th and final assistant.
Hazelton, a 46-year-old native of Brighton, Colorado, held the same role and also coached linebackers in his one season with the Wildcats. Kansas State allowed 21.4 points a game last season, the program’s fewest since 2003 in the offensively potent Big 12, and ranked second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in third-down defense (28%).