When Mark Dantonio took over as head coach at Michigan State University this year, he was actually a low-key DEP and much less well known than Dennis Erickson and Nick Saban outside of the college football fraternity.
Dantonio had made his greatest impression as an assistant coach at Ohio State rather than as a head coach at Cincinnati. Not that he did badly in Cincinnati. He became the second head coach in Cincinnati history to lead the Bearcats to a bowl game in his first season in 2004, beating Marshall 32-14 in the Fort Worth Bowl to cap a 7-5 season. .
His 2006 Cincinnati Bearcats played the second toughest schedule in the country and went 7-5 overall with four losses to ranked teams and also an upset win over then-number 7 Rutgers, marking the highest ranked opponent ever defeated in the Bearcat’s story. While serving as defensive coordinator at Ohio State, he helped the Buckeyes to a 32-6 record in three seasons, and Ohio State went 14-0 and won the national championship in 2002. His national championship defense was second nationally in scoring defense.
In the 2003 season, his defense ranked first nationally in Rushing Defense and ninth in Total Defense, leading the Buckeyes to an 11-2 record and a #4 national ranking. Six Buckeye defensemen were named first-team All-Big 10 during Dantonio’s 3-year tenure and 13 were drafted to the NFL, including two first-round picks.
Before becoming the head coach at Michigan State, he spent 6 years with the Spartans as a secondary coach and associate head coach. He was instrumental in Michigan State’s successful 1999 season as the Spartans went 10-2, won the Florida Citrus Bowl and were ranked No. 7 in the final polls.
Dantonio’s first season at Michigan State was the school’s most successful since 2003. His Spartans went 7-5, losing all 5 games by 7 points or fewer, and became bowl eligible for the first time in four years. . The Spartans will play the Boston College Eagles in the Champs Sports Bowl on December 28. Coincidentally, Michigan State defeated Boston College for the College Hockey National Championship in 2007. Known for his defensive prowess, Dantonio has won 7 games this year despite his heritage Average Scoring Players in All Major Defensive Categories: Scoring Defense , total defense, run defense, pass defense and pass efficiency defense.
His offense was good in scoring offense (24 nationally), offense per run (22 nationally), and passing efficiency offense (23 nationally), while his total offense and passing offense average were .
The former South Carolina defensive back inherited a team that was ineligible for the bowl and went 5-7, 5-6 and 4-8 over the past three years. Going 7-5 and winning a bowl game in his first season was an achievement, especially since Dantonio didn’t pick the talent level of his players, and believe me when I say they had some slugs on defense. Michigan State lost by a touchdown to Ohio State and Iowa in road games, lost by a field goal to Wisconsin on the road, lost by a touchdown to Northwestern in overtime at home, and lost by 4 points to Michigan at home. . In 4 of those losses, the Spartans gave up 48, 37, 34, and 28 points; that is simply giving up too many points to expect to win.
Dantonio’s first recruiting class is currently ranked 55th according to Scout.com with no Top 100 recruits, no 5-star players, and one 4-star player. This is not a good sign. Notre Dame has the top recruiting class in the country with seven Top 100 players, four 5-star players and thirteen 4-star players. Oh!
Ohio State, another big competitor for recruiting in the Midwest, has nine Top 100 players, four 5-star players and eight 4-star players. The Spartans are going to have to tighten their helmet strap a little tighter and dig deeper to fight this type of opposition.
Let’s hope Mark Dantonio and his players understand that motivation is an inside job. The coaches pick the talent and convince him to come to their program, but the players ultimately make his talent pay. You can’t win big without talent, but talent has to not just show up, but play on game day or you’ll lose anyway.
Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a 3-part series. Part 3 evaluates the performance of Nick Saban in Alabama.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley