5 Candidates to Replace Pat Narduzzi as Michigan State DC

Michigan State just lost arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football. 

Not that Pat Narduzzi was going to stay at the assistant coaching level forever. His new job as the head coach at Pitt is well-deserved and perhaps long overdue. The Broyles Award winner in 2013 for top assistant coach has led the Spartans to a top-10 defense in each of the last four years, according to CFBStats.com. 

Now, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio has the tough assignment of replacing Narduzzi while maintaining the program's high standards for defense. 

"Pat brings a lot of energy to our program, and he's extremely organized, extremely innovative," Dantonio said, via Mike Griffith of MLive.com. 

Who are some of the coaches that should be on Dantonio's short list? The answers are in the following slides. 

Michigan State LB Coach Mike Tressel

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History suggests that Dantonio will want to keep this hire in-house. Many of Michigan State's assistants have been with Dantonio for several years. Co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Dave Warner was promoted from within two years ago. 

With that in mind, linebackers and special teams coach Mike Tressel seems like a natural fit. Tressel has been with Dantonio since his days at Cincinnati and has done an excellent job with Michigan State's linebackers. 

Among the defenders to play for Tressel have been linebackers Denicos Allen and Max Bullough. This year, Michigan State ranked No. 22 nationally and second in the Big Ten in rushing defense at 3.43 yards per rush allowed. In 2013, Michigan State allowed just 2.85 yards per rush and eight rushing touchdowns all season. 

This is about as good a route as Dantonio could go in terms of success and continuity. 

Michigan State Secondary Coach Harlon Barnett

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If Dantonio doesn't decide to go with Tressel, he could always go with Spartans secondary coach Harlon Barnett. 

Or, in the more likely event in the eyes of FootballScoop.com and CoachingSearch.com, Dantonio could go with Tressel and Barnett as co-coordinators. 

Tressel has been successful in helping Michigan State develop a stout run defense, but Barnett has done a great job coaching up the defensive backs. This year, the Spartans ranked No. 13 in the country, allowing just six yards per pass attempt. In 2013, Michigan State had the No. 2 pass defense nationally by the same measure and allowed a mere 47.5 completion percentage. 

Like Tressel, Barnett has been with Dantonio since Cincinnati.

Ohio State Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell

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Now, it's time to branch out of the in-house hires, which Dantonio might look toward first. And, to be clear, there's little to no chance Luke Fickell would leave Ohio State on his own for anything short of a head coaching job. 

Still, that doesn't mean Michigan State couldn't at least gauge his interest in this given situation. The Spartans could do much worse than Fickell. Ohio State was uncharacteristically bad against the pass in 2013, but it has improved dramatically in that area, especially in touchdowns allowed (down from 31 to 13). 

Plus, as the series between Michigan State and Ohio State grows more intense, who knows the tendencies of Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer better?

Fickell serves as Ohio State's defensive coordinator, with safeties coach Chris Ash serving as co-DC. If Michigan State were to somehow land Fickell as a DC, it would have to be with a significant pay bump—Narduzzi made more than $900,000 per year—and full authority to run the defense, all while taking care of Fickell's buyout. 

Boston College Defensive Coordinator Don Brown

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If Dantonio is looking for a veteran coach to fill a defensive coordinator spot, then he needs to look no further than Boston College's Don Brown. 

Brown is in his second year with the Eagles, but he has been in the coaching ranks for more than 30 years. Most of that time has been spent in the Northeast at places like UConn and UMass and in the Ivy League at both the assistant and head coaching levels. 

Like Narduzzi, Brown was nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach, in 2013. This year, Boston College ranks third in the ACC in points allowed per game (20.5) and second in rushing yards per game allowed. 

Louisiana Tech Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz

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Consider this more of a wild-card direction. Dantonio is known for being tremendously loyal to his assistants. Furthermore, many of his assistants have been with him for a long time. To go in a new direction at such a high-ranking position would be more uncharacteristic.

However, Louisiana Tech defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has shown that his disastrous stint at Texas (2011-13) was a bump in the road and not a trend. This season, Diaz's Bulldogs defense finished third in Conference USA with 25.2 points per game allowed. Tech also finished first in the conference in rush defense and second in tackles for loss.

Diaz has had successful stops as a DC at Mississippi State and Middle Tennessee. He could be ready to show he can lead a defense at the highest level of college football again. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.