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'Culture is the difference': MSU's Mel Tucker draws unique perspective from CFP final

Lansing — Mel Tucker had a unique perspective Monday night when he sat down to watch Georgia and Alabama square off in the national championship game.

The Michigan State coach got his break in the profession from Alabama coach Nick Saban in the late 1990’s when Saban, then the Spartans’ head coach, hired Tucker as a graduate assistant. Tucker later coached with Saban at LSU and Alabama, spending 2015 with the Crimson Tide before heading to Georgia to be the defensive coordinator under Kirby Smart from 2016-18.