In his first season as Michigan State head football coach, Mark Dantonio has inherited a lot of questions.
He accepted the Spartans’ head coaching job after they tallied three straight losing seasons and no bowl appearances in five years. He left Cincinnati after three years at the helm, and he led the Bearcats to their first winning season in 23 years and a victory in the Fort Worth Bowl last season.
Settled into his new role, Dantonio’s focus has been glued to finding the answers to his new team’s 2-10 finish last season. He has found the place to look to, and it stands not too far from the Spartans’ East Lansing, Mich., campus – a 65 mile drive south to Ann Arbor, Mich.
“We need to have measuring sticks in terms of what dictates success,” Dantonio said. “In our state, we point down the road to Michigan. If you point to something, then you have the chance to achieve what you want.”
Through five games, Dantonio and the Spartans are on their way to backing that goal, currently a game ahead of Michigan in the overall standings.
But while Dantonio and his players may bleed for the annual game with their downstate rivals on Nov. 3, the Wolverines have had their number. In 99 career match-ups, the Spartans have won 28, marking their lowest all-time winning percentage (.282) against any conference opponent.
“Any time a statement like that is made, it’s a tribute to our program,” Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr said. “Certainly, we’ll take it as such and try to make sure they don’t beat us. It’s a real compliment.”
But Dantonio’s purpose was far from flattery. His use of the “measuring stick” concept with as hated a rival program as Michigan has served as a motivating factor for his new squad.
“We’ve been an underdog for I don’t know how long,” junior safety Otis Wiley said. “At Michigan, they dominate us. They don’t pay attention to what people say, and I think we lack that.”
Dantonio and his new players can look no further than his own coaching roots in the Big Ten as a model of success – defensive coordinator for Jim Tressel at Ohio State for three seasons. He was an integral part of the Buckeyes’ run to the 2003 National Championship, as his unit forced five turnovers in a double-overtime, 31-24 victory over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
As Dantonio inherits a team that finished in the bottom third of the conference in sacks, passing defense and total defense, the same defensive-minded approach he held with Ohio State is already taking shape. The Spartans are 2nd in the nation in sacks with 23, while ranking in the top 40 in run defense (37th), pass defense (31st) and total defense (25th).
For Wiley, the presence of a hands-on coach like Dantonio has brought a new learning curve to his game. He registered 94 tackles last season and believes that his skills will skyrocket with a coach who knows his position best.
“We haven’t had that head coach here who’s that hands on with drills and techniques,” Wiley said. “We’re willing to adapt and learn with what he teaches us. (John L. Smith) was more just looking along and using the coordinators to tell us what we had to do.”
While the fresh air of potential was rampant in training camp, 2007 represents a recovery from one of the worst efforts in school history. Without pulling off the largest comeback in Division-IA history, a 38-point come-from-behind victory at Northwestern, Michigan State would have gone winless in the Big Ten for the first time since 1958.
With no guarantees, Dantonio will have his ruler in hand, gaging his team’s progress game by game.
“Our attitude at Michigan State is to measure up,” he said. “It’s a very tough conference and we need to gain back the respect of our fans. There will be growing pains moving forward, and it will be about how we handle adversity.”
Reach Chris Gentilviso at
