Kirby Smart recalls how Mel Tucker contributed to Georgia’s program
By Keith Farner
Published:
Long before Mel Tucker was the head coach of a College Football Playoff contender at Michigan State, he was Georgia’s defensive coordinator under new coach Kirby Smart.
Smart recalled how Tucker helped him in those early days of building the Georgia program, from helping him, to recruiting and teaching.
“Mel was tremendous for our program,” Smart said on the SEC coaches media teleconference. “Probably a bigger asset for me, personally, as a young first-time head coach. … He’s a really good teacher. Probably not as emotional as I was early on. That probably kept things at a level head. … If you ask Eric Stokes, he meant so much in his life because he helped recruit him, learned a new position under him. … There are countless times he helped with kids on the team, personality-wise. He can handle any kid. So many kids just respect Mel’s maturity.”
The Bulldogs were 32-9 when Tucker led the defensive unit and finished in the FBS Top 20 for total defense 3 consecutive years (No. 16 in 2016; No. 6 in 2017; No. 13 in 2018). One of the staff’s top recruiters, Tucker was ranked as the No. 14 recruiter in the nation by 247Sports based off the class he helped signed before the 2018 season.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
