On Monday morning, news broke that upset quite a few Michigan State fans as Luke Fickell made the decision to remain at Cincinnati.
According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, the campus culture at Michigan State played a role in Fickell’s decision to turn down the Spartans.
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Turns out the mystery woman in heels on Michigan State University’s flight home after trying to woo Luke Fickell from Cincinnati to be MSU’s new football coach might have been the most important person on the airplane.
When a Cincinnati reporter posted a picture to Twitter of MSU’s private plane getting ready to fly back to Lansing on Sunday afternoon, a person in heels was seen. The view of the rest of the person’s body and face were blocked by a fuel truck. Speculation overran Twitter that the shoes belonged to Fickell’s wife, Amy.
That wasn’t true. The shoes belonged to Jennifer Smith, MSU senior women’s administrator and senior associate athletic director for compliance.
And her being there was no accident.
That’s because Amy Fickell, and Luke to some extent, had concerns about campus culture at MSU, including lawsuits roiling the football department. Those concerns were part of the reason the Fickells turned down the Michigan State football job on Monday, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press.
You have to wonder if the campus culture will play a role in any coach the Spartans target as a potential replacement for Mark Dantonio.
–Excerpt courtesy of Detroit Free Press– LINK
