Michigan State head coach candidates: Will 3X title winner Urban Meyer succeed in finding a CFB head coaching gig alongside other contenders?

With the impending firing of Mel Tucker by the Michigan State Spartans, Urban Meyer has become one of the candidates people have been talking about to take the job.

Meyer has spent over 40 years on the sidelines of college football, winning three national championships.

With Meyer's college record of 187-32 overall and 12-3 in bowl games, it would put Michigan State back on the map as a potential powerhouse in a brutal Big Ten. However, there are some red flags that come along with hiring him.

The first thing is the health concerns. He had multiple health episodes that forced him to step away from the coaching reigns. Making sure he is healthy enough to do so would be a priority.

Second is the debacle that was Meyer's Jacksonville Jaguars tenure. That put a massive mark against him as a coaching candidate on a lot of boards. He still is relatively young at 59 years old, but it would take a huge gamble to have Meyer as the head of a program once again.

Chances of Urban Meyer to MSU seems promising

Urban Meyer is currently preparing for his interview for the head coaching position of Michigan state according to reports.

If Urban Meyer is not a candidate, who can be the next head coach for the Michigan State Spartans?

Urban Meyer just feels like a big name being floated around for the sake of it. However, the Mel Tucker contract is something that could be an issue as if the school still owes him an estimated $77 million. That could make the Michigan State athletic department not want to shell out more money for another massive contract.

One name that seems to be an interesting candidate is Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Elko. He was able to get nine wins in his first season last year and is undefeated thus far. Elko would be a great coach who could make this Spartans team dominate on the defensive side specifically.

Another coach who seems to be going under the radar is Harlon Barnett. Think about it for a second, if Michigan State can just elevate its assistant coach to interim coach, why not just take the interim tag off? This has been done before when interims became the head coach. The Brooklyn Nets did that with Jacque Vaughn, so it's not unrealistic.

This team has played hard under Barnett, and it means the Spartans do not have to pay for another coach. This feels like something that could be more than likely happening instead of a big-name hire.