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Michigan State football's Mel Tucker hires 'relentless' recruiter Saeed Khalif

Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read

The transfer portal opened up again for Mel Tucker, this time on his staff.

Michigan State football made the hiring of new director of player personnel Saeed Khalif official Friday. Tucker pried away Khalif from Wisconsin to replace Scott Aligo, who left the Spartans for a similar position at his alma mater Kansas.

“Saeed is relentless when it comes to recruiting and has a proven track record of success in the Big Ten,” Tucker, a Wisconsin alum, said in a statement. “He also has coaching experience and understands the importance of developing players. I’m excited he’s here on campus and hitting the ground running this month. He will have an immediate impact on our program.”

Badgers Director of Player Personnel Saeed Khalif comments about the players who committed to playing for Wisconsin.
Badgers Director of Player Personnel Saeed Khalif comments about the players who committed to playing for Wisconsin.

Khalif spent the past four seasons as the Badgers’ director of player personnel under coach Paul Chryst, helping to oversee their recruiting and working alongside current MSU tight ends coach Ted Gilmore.

Wisconsin landed the No. 16 recruiting class for 2021 according to 247Sports Composite rankings, the program’s best group since the rating system was created in 2000, with one five-star and five four-star prospects. And Khalif helped the Badgers improve each year he was in Madison, going from having the No. 46 class in 2018, No. 29 in 2019 and No. 26 in 2020.

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The Georgia Tech alum, a former defensive lineman from 1983-87 who had brief stints playing in the NFL, spent 2013-17 at his alma mater as an assistant director of player personnel.

After coaching high school football in Georgia and New Jersey, Khalif spent two seasons as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Savannah State in the Football Championship Subdivision to get his college coaching start.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football hires 'relentless' recruiter Saeed Khalif