(Dale G. Young / The Detroit News)

Former Michigan State offensive coordinator Dan Roushar has accepted the job to become the NFL’s New Orleans Saints running backs coach.

Here’s the statement MSU released following the announcement of Roushar’s departure:

The New Orleans Saints and Michigan State are built on similar models, with a focus on character and people. New Orleans has won a Super Bowl, and over the last five years, the Saints have been one of the winningest organizations in the NFL. I’ve had an opportunity to work for Mark Dantonio – in my opinion, the best college football coach in America – for the last eight years, including the last six seasons at Michigan State. Now, I have an opportunity to work for arguably the best coach in the NFL, in Sean Payton. Professionally, this is an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up. Now as a running backs coach, I have the chance to learn the interworking of the NFL.

Michigan State is poised to have a tremendous year in 2013. I’ve been incredibly blessed to have worked alongside coach Dantonio, a talented coaching staff and gifted players. The last six years at Michigan State have been quite rewarding: six-straight bowl appearances, back-to-back 11-wins seasons including a Big Ten Championship and a Legends Division title, and four-straight victories over Michigan. It’s difficult to leave because it has been quite a ride, but professional opportunities like this are indeed rare. Coach Dantonio has built something special – it’s a program that pursues excellence in all aspects, not only on the field competing for championships, but also off the field in the classroom and in the community.

It was just reported a few days ago that he was a candidate for the job, so this escalated very quickly.

A lot have Spartan fans have been begging for Dan Roushar (who is 18-9 as the Spartans’ offensive coordinator) to get fired, and while he hasn’t technically been “fired”, he’s gone, and that’s what they wanted.

But there’s one more step- who’s in line for the job next? General consensus says that the two biggest candidates are running backs coach Brad Salem and quarterbacks coach Dave Warner but there’s a possibility the Spartans go looking outside of their own staff for a new coordinator.

However, a source on the team told me that Warner has “a good chance” of becoming the Spartans’ new offensive coordinator.

Stay tuned and follow @BOTRC on twitter for more updates.