When Mark Dantonio took over as head coach at Michigan State University this year, he was actually a low-key appointee and much less well-known than Dennis Erickson and Nick Saban outside of the college football fraternity.
Dantonio had made his biggest impression as an assistant coach at Ohio State rather than as a head coach at Cincinnati. Not that he did poorly in Cincinnati. He became the second head coach in Cincinnati history to take the Bearcats to a bowl game in his first season in 2004, outscoring 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-No. 7 Rutgers, marking the highest-ranked opponent ever beaten in the bear cat story While serving as defensive coordinator at Ohio State, he helped the Buckeyes to a 32-6 record in three seasons, as 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 1st nationally in Rushing Defense and 9th in Total Defense, leading the Buckeyes to an 11-2 record and as high as No. 4 in the national rankings. Six Buckeye defenders were named to the All-Big 10 First Team during Dantonio’s 3-year tenure and 13 were drafted into the NFL, including two first-round picks.
Before becoming 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 when the Spartans went 10-2, won the Florida Citrus Bowl and 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, lost 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 National College Hockey Championship in 2007. Dantonio, known for his defensive prowess, 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), rushing offense (22 nationally), and passing efficiency offense (23 nationally), while his total offense and average passing offense were.
The former South Carolina defensive back inherited a team that wasn’t bowl-eligible and went 5-7, 5-6 and 4-8 the past three years. Going 7-5 and winning a bowl game in his first season was an accomplishment, especially since Dantonio didn’t pick the talent level of his players, and trust 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 recruits in the Top 100, 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 contender for drafting 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 on their show, but the players ultimately make his talent pay. You can’t win big without talent, but talent has to not only 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 Nick Saban’s performance at Alabama.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
