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Recruiting is key job for Dantonio at Michigan State
11/28/2006, 1:18 a.m. PTBy TIM MARTIN
The Associated Press
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? Mark Dantonio was getting ready to coach his Cincinnati Bearcats in a bowl game.
However, after being named Michigan State's new head coach Monday, he has a new task: to line up talent for the struggling Spartans in a crucial recruiting period that began this week.
"I feel like we have instant credibility in recruiting," said Dantonio, noting he has experience working the Midwest talent hubs of Detroit and Chicago as well as national centers such as Texas, Florida and California."We need to be able to recruit players that can play at the highest level," Dantonio said. "That means players that can play at the next level. That needs to be a goal here. I believe we can do that because the resources and the tradition is here."
Dantonio, who had an 18-17 record as Cincinnati's head coach for the last three seasons, also worked as an assistant at several schools including Ohio State, Kansas and Michigan State. He brings the type of experience that is coveted in the hunt for the nation's top football talent, Michigan State officials said after unanimously approving his five-year contract worth at least $1.1 million a year.
Recruiting in the Midwest was a problem under former Michigan State coach John L. Smith, who was fired after four seasons with a 22-26 record. Smith struggled against Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame, other Midwestern schools who mine the same talent pool.
Smith previously coached at Louisville, but he spent most of his career in western states. That didn't help him when it came time to persuade top-notch players to come to East Lansing. The Spartans finished 4-8 this season and lost eight of their last nine games as injuries and lack of depth took their toll.
Dantonio, an Ohio native who was an assistant under Nick Saban and Bobby Williams at Michigan State from 1995-2000, should have better Midwest connections.
"He has done a fantastic job everywhere he has been," Saban said of Dantonio. "This is a great opportunity for him, and I think it's great that the Michigan State gave him that opportunity. They got a good one, and he'll do a great job."
Dantonio worked with Jim Tressel at Ohio State and Youngstown State.
"Mark will build a great program and will do a great job," Tressel said in a written statement. "We are looking forward to competing against him, but the neighborhood just got tougher."
Dantonio said the Spartans need to get "bigger, stronger and faster" if they're going to contend for a championship, something he said is possible if the entire program pulls together to build a winning team.
He said he wants his teams to be able to stop the run on defense and be able to run the ball in a balanced offense."We have to do that because that speaks to toughness," Dantonio said. "And this is a tough game."
His first meeting with his Michigan State players went well, the Spartans said.
"We have to feel him out. He has to feel us out," running back Jehuu Caulcrick said. "It's going to take time, but it will happen."
Linebacker Kaleb Thornhill said Dantonio's roots will be a bonus.
"He has been here before, he knows a little of the tradition and what it takes to win here," Thornhill said. "I think we're on the right track."
Dantonio and his wife, Becky, said they were excited to return to the East Lansing area. Dantonio called it a dream come true.
"We still lay on Spartan blankets at home," he said. "We have a lot of things from Michigan State that are really just cherished as part of our past."
The Bearcats named defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi interim head coach on Monday.
"We will move forward with a national search and will begin the process immediately," Cincinnati athletic director Mike Thomas said in a written statement. "The future for Cincinnati football is very bright."