Coach Mark Dantonio (official thread)

[sandgk]

Originally Posted by Best Buckeye

I watched a local (MSU) interviewer talk with Mark. He stated that he has been a Sparty ever since he was an assistant there before and that he still has a set of Sparty sweats.
So all the time he was coaching at tOSU and Cinci he was MSU fan.
That kind of spoils it for me.

Well whatever his closet sweatpant affiliation, it did not really detract from his excellent work with the Buckeye D while in Columbus. Also, as he was being interviewed for the benefit of a Michigan State audience his overt adoption of all things Sparty should come as no surprise whatsoever. Not the way that some other coaches have done it, but nothing to get riled up over.

[Best Buckeye]

Originally Posted by sandgk

Well whatever his closet sweatpant affiliation, it did not really detract from his excellent work with the Buckeye D while in Columbus. Also, as he was being interviewed for the benefit of a Michigan State audience his overt adoption of all things Sparty should come as no surprise whatsoever. Not the way that some other coaches have done it, but nothing to get riled up over.

You are correct. His sweats afflication did not detract from his performances.
It was great to have him here.

[osugrad21]

Coach D stepping up to the plate...

Link

Published December 19, 2006
Dantonio embracing MSU's challenges: New football coach puts Wolverines, Buckeyes on guard


Q: At an all-state banquet last week in Detroit, you stood up and pointed to the University of Michigan coaches table and let them know there's a new sheriff in town. Can you talk about that?
A: What do you want me to say? I've always been one to accept challenges and not to try to look past people. University of Michigan is an arch-rival....
Q: What did you say?
A: I don't think it was anything insulting. I made reference to Ohio State and Michigan, and (said) we will be a player in the state, and we will measure up. I think that's all I said.


Continued...

[Best Buckeye]

Can we think of anyone else we know who stepped up to the plate, threw down his gauntlets, and said I'm here and I'm ready.
If he didn't know it before he started coaching under JT he learned it.
I would expect nothing less from Mark.

[osugrad21]

Link

MSU's Dantonio attempts to mend backyard fences after John L. era

January 28, 2007
BY SHANNON SHELTON
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
A few weeks ago at the Free Press' All-State Dream Team banquet, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio pointed at the Wolverines' table and made a vow.
"I can assure you one thing," Dantonio said. "We will be a player and we will measure up. I can promise you that."

Continued...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Recruits follow Dantonio
Cunningham, Jeremiah choose Michigan State
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Steve Blackledge
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CHRIS RUSSELL DISPATCH Hilliard Darby?s Antonio Jeremiah gets a big kiss from his mother, Lisa Ford, after signing with Michigan State yesterday. JEFF HINCKLEY DISPATCH B.J. Cunningham, Rocco Pentello, Zack Crum and Brett Lacke (Marshall, soccer) on signing day at Westerville South.
Upon learning that Mark Dantonio had left the University of Cincinnati on Nov. 27 to become coach at Michigan State, B.J. Cunningham paced the floor like an expectant father.
"I was kind of on pins and needles for a few days because I didn?t know what was going to happen to me during the change," said Cunningham, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound receiver from Westerville South.

[VprHis]

So I read on an MSU forum -- in other words, this is hearsay, but seems plausible -- that Dantonio has put a countdown clock on the wall in the weightroom. It is counting down to victory versus the Skunkbears.

Sound familiar?

[osugrad21]

Link

MSU's Dantonio stresses trust
Associated Press

EAST LANSING ? Mark Dantonio wants to build a foundation and likes some of the bricks he is finding as Michigan State's new football coach.
Though the first of the Spartans' 15 spring practices won't begin until next Tuesday, Dantonio has seen enough in 11 conditioning sessions at 5:45 a.m. to know he isn't starting from scratch.

Cont'd...

[808 Buck]

Dantonio learned under Jim Tressel at Ohio State, so he won't be slapping himself at any postgame news conferences. Instead, it might be reporters who need to slap themselves awake.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2790806

I know a lot of reporters that need a slap.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by 808 Buck

I know a lot of reporters that need a slap.

Hooley told me to tell you, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

[Buckskin86]

STEADY AS HE GOES: MSU's Dantonio balances life, football
Dave Dye / The Detroit News

Raised in a Catholic family in Zanesville, Ohio, Dantonio, 51, said he "strayed away a little bit, back and forth" from the church over the years.

His faith, however, grew stronger after working with Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, OSU offensive coordinator Jim Bollman and, most importantly, after meeting his wife, Becky.

STEADY AS HE GOES: MSU's Dantonio balances life, football

Dantonio set up a Michigan countdown clock (sound familiar?)

Clocks help keep minds on U-M

[osugrad21]

Link

Q+A WITH DANTONIO: 'When we beat Michigan ...'

MSU coach Mark Dantonio tells how he'll fix the program

July 8, 2007
Free Press sports writer Shannon Shelton talked with new Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio:



Cont...

A: When I was at Ohio State and we lost to Michigan -- because that's obviously how you're measured there -- it bothered me so much that every day, I watched one play from that game. Just one, and analyzed that one play and what happened. I did that up until the time I was hired at Cincinnati. It bothered me. When it's important to you when you don't succeed, it's going to bother you. If it doesn't, well ...

Jim Tressel ... really the biggest thing that sticks out ... is, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I can walk out there and teach somebody up to the Nth degree, but if they don't believe in me and trust in me as a person, I don't think you really have value. When you develop that trust and care in a person and that passion, that's when you find ordinary people doing extraordinary things. ... What sets him apart is that his players overachieve. And that's really a true measure of a coach, the end result. If they pick us to be 2-10, are we going to overachieve or underachieve?

[VprHis]

Freep

How to Fix Michigan State Football

[BB73]

MSU is planning on building something like the renovated WHAC, with some additional Orwellian features.

ozone.Fallcamp

Big Brother: Former OSU defensive coordinator and current Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio startled some people at the Big Ten Media Days when he announced that when completed, MSU's football facilities would be second to none. That is a bold statement in view of the stature of the newly renovated WHAC, but Dantonio stuck to his guns when asked if the new Spartan facilities would measure up.

"Yes, I have been to Columbus," said Dantonio when asked if he was aware of the scope of the WHAC renovation.

MSU will not quite spend the 21.5 million dollars spent at OSU, but they aren't exactly going cheap either.

"Our facility is around 16 million plus," said Dantonio who explained that the Spartans may be able to get just as much facility for a little less money.

"They renovated and moved their weight room, which I'm sure impacted the cost. We'll build on to ours," he said.

"Our weight room will be 16,000 to 17,000 square feet, high ceilings, state of the art.," said Dantonio.

Those numbers are almost identical to the numbers at OSU, but Dantonio said the Spartans may one-up the Buckeyes when it comes to high-tech communication.

"I'll be able to sit in my office and hit a button and watch the offensive line coach meet with the offensive linemen. It's going to be very, very nice," said Dantonio.

Dantonio will be able to electronically eavesdrop every meeting space, the weight room, and other important parts of the building. Coaches will even
be able to tape their meeting for review...or to see if players were listening.

It sounds a whole lot like Big Brother in George Orwell's novel 1984, a fact not lost on Jim Tressel when asked if he has similar capabilities at OSU's facility.

"No, I'm not Big Brother. I can't do that, nor can anyone do that in my office." responded Tressel.

Cont'd ...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

College football
Michigan State coach tries out lighter touch

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 3:43 AM





New coach Mark Dantonio is changing the culture of Michigan State football to something resembling the Seven Blocks of Granite visage his square jaw and furrowed brow evoke on the sideline.

That is not to say Dantonio has purged the program of all the looniness associated with his predecessor, John L. Smith, who slapped himself across the face during a televised news conference as the Spartans swirled down the drain last season.

Continued...