Tucker began his coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant for the Michigan State UniversitySpartans under head coach Nick Saban. In 1999, he served as a defensive backs coach for the Miami UniversityRedhawks, and then in 2000 followed Saban to Louisiana State University to fill the same position with the LSU Tigers. In 2001, he became defensive backs coach for the Ohio State University Buckeyes under coach Jim Tressel. In 2002, Tucker was the defensive backs coach as Ohio State won a national championship, and in 2004 he was made co-defensive coordinator. In 2005 Tucker entered the NationalFootball League with the Cleveland Browns. He coached defensive backs from 2005–2007 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in the 2008 season following the firing of Todd Grantham. Under Tucker, Cleveland consistently ranked fifth in the league, with the defense making 73 interceptions. After the firing of Browns head coach Romeo Crennel, Tucker was replaced by Rob Ryan. In 2009 Tucker was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the defensive coordinator. In the 2011 season head coach Jack Del Rio put Tucker in charge of defensive play-calling, and the team quickly became the fourth highest rated in the NFL. On November 29, 2011, Tucker was named Jacksonville's interim head coach following the firing of Del Rio. He ran the team for their final five games and was in consideration for the job full-time until Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey was named head coach on January 10, 2012. Tucker got his first victory as a head coach in week 14, a 41–14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went 2–3 as interim head coach. On January 12, 2012, he informed the media he would return to his position as defensive coordinator for the Jaguars. On January 13, 2012 it was announced that Tucker would also be the assistant head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. On January 18, 2013 Tucker was named defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, a move the Bears would regret as Tucker became the worst defensive coordinator in Bears history. Following one of the worst defensive seasons in Bears' history in 2013, Tucker was criticized by the media. As a result, the team fired two of Tucker's assistant coaches, linebackers coach Tim Tibesar and defensive line coach Mike Phair. The Bears replaced them with Paul Pasqualoni as defensive line coach and Reggie Herring as linebackers coach. On January 20, 2015, following another record-setting low defensive season for the Bears, Tucker was replaced by former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio under new head coach John Fox. He spent the 2015 season with the Alabama Crimson Tide as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach, during which the team won the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. In 2016, Tucker moved to Georgia as the defensive coordinator. On December 5, 2018, Tucker signed an agreement to become the Colorado Buffaloes football head coach starting in 2019. On February 12, 2020, Tucker resigned as Colorado's head coach to accept the same position at Michigan State. Tucker's contract at Michigan State is worth $5.5 million annually for 6 years; more than double his contract at Colorado and more than $1 million annually over previous head coach Dantonio. At the time of signing, Tucker became the 12th highest paid head coach in FBS and 4th in Big Ten.
