Don't dismiss the Tom Izzo for football coach rumors as mindless Internet speculation. There was and is little chance of it happening, but something like that doesn't pop out of nowhere. In this bizarre coaching search, where no one is a slam-dunk and half the MSU fan base will be against whoever's hired, Tom Izzo for football coach was just another test balloon floated up to gauge everyone's reaction.

Do I think Izzo could be a successful football coach? Yes. He is a brilliant motivator, a great recruiter and a driven man. (What bigger challenge could someone who's already reached the top of the college basketball world undertake than trying to become the first coach ever to win basketball and football championships?) If he surrounded himself with the right people - think Norm Chow as offensive coordinator with full autonomy, or Steve Mariucci as his personal sounding board - there's no reason he couldn't win.

Do I think Michigan State would actually pull the trigger on such move? Yes and no. I'm 99.99 percent sure it's not going to happen, not now, not with all the negative publicity it's received. But could it? Absolutely, for two reasons.

One, associate athletics director Mark Hollis is a visionary (and close Izzo confidant). He made the WJR deal happen, he dreamed up the Cold War and the BasketBowl. And he's bright enough to think outside the box, turn to the best coach and program-builder he knows, and say you're the man to this thing around. A colleague of mine compared it General Electric tapping the CEO of Boeing to run its company. You think a plane guy knows much about light bulbs? No, he knows running a business, just like Izzo knows coaching and leading a group of young men.

Two, I leave the door open the slightest of cracks - maybe not even open, but unlocked - because none of the final candidates is an overwhelming, can't-miss coach. Todd Grantham has Nick Saban's recommendation and a brilliant defensive mind, but also little buzz and folks are worried he might leave for the NFL in a few years. Pat Shurmur loves MSU like no other, but, for better or worse, he's got George Perles ties and no coordinator experience. Bo Pelini has another successful defensive pedigree, but a history of job jumping. And Brian Kelly is a MAC coach, which to some overshadows the fact that he's a successful one.

In the end, it will be one of those four. My personal choice remains Kelly. He's won every place he's been, he knows and has recruited Michigan all his life, he's having success at a place a person many think will be the next Michigan coach (Mike DeBord) could not, and he has a perceived loyalty to MSU that boosters find appealing. In reality, he's a lot like Izzo - and that's what MSU is looking for in its football coach.

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