Mel Tucker: Georgia’s next defensive coordinator
By John Buhler
Mel Tucker will reportedly join Kirby Smart at the University of Georgia as the Dawgs’ next defensive coordinator after the National Championship Game.
According to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman, the Georgia Bulldogs have their next defensive coordinator in Alabama Crimson Tide defensive backs coach Mel Tucker. Tucker, like Smart, is coaching for Alabama during the Tide’s National Championship versus the No. 1 Clemson Tigers on Monday night in Glendale, Arizona.
#Alabama DB coach Mel Tucker is set to become the new DC on Kirby Smart's staff at #Georgia, source told @FoxSports: https://t.co/7hOI1vYfHX
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 7, 2016
Tucker, who turned 44 on Monday, has been with the Crimson Tide for only this past season. He has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL three times with the Cleveland Browns (2008), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2009-12), and most recently the Chicago Bears (2013-14).
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Mel Tucker has his coaching roots from the Nick Saban coaching tree, serving as a graduate assistant under Saban in East Lansing for the 1997 Michigan State Spartans. He re-joined Saban in 2000 to coach the defensive backs for the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge.
Outside of Nick Saban, Tucker has been on other notable coaching staffs including Jim Tressel, Romeo Crennel, Jack Del Rio, and Marc Trestman. Like Kirby Smart, Mel Tucker has his roots in coaching the defensive backs, which is a key part of the Saban coaching tree.
It seemed almost certain that Kirby Smart would bring at least one person from the Alabama defensive staff to the Georgia staff when he became head coach. Tucker along with inside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi were two major contenders for the defensive coordinator job for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Tucker’s NFL experience and his relationship with both Nick Saban and Kirby Smart bode well for him being an excellent recruiter for the UGA program. He played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin in the Big 10 in the mid-1990s under legendary Badgers coach Barry Alvarez.
As of now, the Georgia Bulldogs only need to hire an inside linebackers coach to complete Kirby Smart’s first staff at Georgia. Mel Tucker joins defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer as three-fourths of the UGA defensive staff.
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The offensive staff came together this past weekend with the hirings of Shane Beamer, James Coley, Marshall Malchow, and Dell McGee. Lupoi could still come to Athens as the inside linebackers coach, as he is both familiar with Smart and UGA has a need at that coaching position.