Current Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker is one of several college football coaches who were involved in the Tennessee Vols' insane 2017 coaching search.

Too much happened in that search to recap everything that went down here. But a couple of highlights include the fan base thwarting the almost-hire of Greg Schiano, and then-athletic director John Currie getting fired after going rogue and interviewing then-Washington State head coach Mike Leach in California.

The wild coaching search eventually culminated with the hiring of Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, who was fired after three seasons in part due to an NCAA investigation.

Tucker, who was serving as the Georgia Bulldogs' defensive coordinator in 2017, felt confident at one point during the process that he was going to be offered the job.

Tucker told ESPN recently that Tennessee never told him he had the job, but he felt as though he was going to get it. He then suggested not getting the job was an "unanswered prayer".

"They never told me it was my job, but I thought I had it," said Tucker. "But as my buddy tells me, 'Thank God for unanswered prayers.'"

Tucker was eventually hired at Colorado where he spent one season before landing the Spartans' head coaching job. He went 2-5 in 2020, but quickly turned things around in 2021 by going 11-2.

It's easy to say that Tennessee made the wrong decision by hiring Pruitt over Tucker, but that's not necessarily a fair statement to make. While I think Tucker is the better coach, there's no guarantee that he would've found success with the Vols.

One major reason why current UT head coach Josh Heupel has managed to find success early in Knoxville is because of the elite leadership that Tennessee currently has in place, which is led by athletic director Danny White.

It all starts at the top. And if everyone isn't on the same page, failure is imminent.

Tucker is probably right that he's better off at Michigan State than he would've been at Tennessee a few years ago.

However, after watching Heupel go 7-6 last season and build some momentum, he might look at the Vols' job a bit differently.

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