January 12th, 2023

The award, presented by St. Luke’s Health, recognizes an individual in the world of college football whose notable contributions and positive influence have helped define the ways we enjoy, watch and engage in sports, and whose life is exemplary of a champion through the display of characteristics for which Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was known, such as integrity, perseverance, determination, and grit.

Source: Michigan State University Athletics

July 10th, 2022

Dantonio raised the program’s floor and even extended the ceiling past the point most thought it could ever go. Tucker may well be the perfect extension of Dantonio. MSU’s former players and coach alike are buying into Tucker’s program, and he seems able to expand that ceiling higher.

Source: The Only Colors

December 29th, 2021

In the spring and late summer, Mark Dantonio abandoned retirement to go on a tour of college football practices. Michigan State was among his most frequent stops, as was Cincinnati, logically; those are the two places he served as head coach.But Dantonio also visited with the Pitt Panthers. And his two former pupils, Mel Tucker and Pat Narduzzi, will face off in the Peach Bowl on Thursday.

Source: Detroit Free Press

September 7th, 2021

Mark Dantonio saw it all on Friday night. Well, most of it, anyway. Former Michigan State head football coach Mark Dantonio was part of the search committee that hired Alan Haller as new athletic director. The former Michigan State football coach was looking forward to the Spartans’ season opener as much as any fan, but he was at a wedding on Friday night and found himself scrambling to get to a TV in time for kickoff around 9:15 p.m.

Source: Detroit News

October 16th, 2020

Mark Dantonio is on furlough. Dantonio, after his Feb. 4 retirement, agreed to a $100,000 annual contract with the athletic department through Feb. 14, 2022. In that role, MSU football’s winningest coach will assist in donor relations and a variety of other projects. However, Dantonio in late August agreed to indefinitely step aside as the university and athletic department navigate the financial fallout of the coronavirus shutdowns.

Source: Detroit Free Press

May 20th, 2020

Curtis Blackwell’s case saying he was wrongfully terminated by Michigan State has come to an end. The former Michigan State football staffer’s federal lawsuit against former football coach Mark Dantonio, former athletic director Mark Hollis and former president Lou Anna K. Simon was dismissed on Wednesday in a ruling from U.S. District Court judge Janet Neff.

Source: Detroit News

April 9th, 2020

Mark Dantonio abruptly resigned on Feb. 4 after compiling the most victories as a head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. In total, he finished with a 114-57 record, good for the third-highest winning percentage in the program’s history. His 69 wins against Big Ten opponents rank second in MSU’s history. Along the way, he won three conference championships, the most by a coach in East Lansing. He led the Spartans to 12 bowl games during his 13 seasons, winning half of those.

Source: Athlon Sports

February 27th, 2020

Former Michigan State football quarterback Brian Lewerke said he has no problem with the way Mark Dantonio retired as football coach. “I think it was his time,” Lewerke said Tuesday at the NFL combine. “He’s done everything for the program, basically brought it back to prominence, so I think he can do whatever he wants basically with that program. He’s won Big Ten championships. My only disappointment is that I wasn’t able to get one for him, too. So, I wish I could have.”

Source: Detroit Free Press

February 5th, 2020

February 5th, 2020

The legacy of Dantonio as Michigan State’s head coach is a bit murkier now than it would have been a couple of years ago, both on and off the field. While there will be tendencies by some to focus only on one or the other, all things must be taken into account when evaluating the legacy of someone that was an institution in East Lansing for more than a decade.

Source: The Only Colors

February 4th, 2020

February 4th, 2020

There were always two ways to look at Mark Dantonio, and both were so vivid and compelling that people tended to see one or the other. There was Dantonio the charismatic and principled leader who built a Big Ten powerhouse. And there was Dantonio the risk-taker, rationalizing his decisions as long as they led to championships. If you loved or hated Michigan State, it was easy to see Dantonio one way. But if you were neutral and spent enough time around him, you saw both.

Source: Sports Illustrated

February 4th, 2020

During the course of his 13-year career at Michigan State, Mark Dantonio became the program’s winningest coach, won three Big Ten titles, was twice Big Ten Coach of the Year, had six bowl wins, including a coveted Rose Bowl victory, and made a College Football Playoff appearance. Dantonio, who announced his retirement Tuesday afternoon, finished his Michigan State career with a 114-57 record, breaking Hall-of-Fame coach Duffy Daugherty’s record 109 victories.

Source: Detroit News

February 4th, 2020

After a storied 13 seasons as head coach of the Michigan State football program, Mark Dantonio announced his decision to retire on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Dantonio finishes his career with a record of 114-57 in East Lansing, 132-74 in 16 seasons overall. During his time at the helm of the Spartan program, Dantonio compiled an impressive list of accomplishments including three Big Ten Championships, two victories in the Big Ten Championship Game, victories in the 2014 Rose Bowl and the 2015 Cotton Bowl, and an appearance in the 2015 College Football Playoff, finishing his career as the winningest football coach in Michigan State history.

Source: Michigan State University Athletics

January 30th, 2020

Two separate seasons. Two program wins. A lot of comparisons have been drawn between the 2012 football season and this last season, as coach Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans in the regular season finales of both seasons became bowl-eligible. In both seasons, he dubbed their final regular season wins as “program wins,” — 2012 at Minnesota and 2019 against Maryland.

Source:The State News

January 17th, 2020

During his presentation Friday at the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Clinic at the Lansing Center, Mark Dantonio talked about change being inevitable. However, more than three weeks after the Spartans’ season ended with a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl, there has been no indication Dantonio is planning to make any adjustments to his staff. Following his presentation, he refused to speak to reporters, further prolonging the guessing game.

Source: Detroit News

January 17th, 2020

Silence from Mark Dantonio in January used to be a good thing for Michigan State’s football program. The absence of noise was comforting to a fan base that trusted its coach wholeheartedly. The chaos of hirings and firings was for less stable programs, programs still trying to find their way. Never before in the Dantonio era have I seen MSU’s fan base yearn so intensely for a taste of that chaos. They’d settle right now for signs of life. The silence is becoming maddening.

Source: Lansing State Journal

January 16th, 2020

Lansing State Journal sports columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press Michigan State beat writer Chris Solari, along with host Phil Friend, discuss the latest in Spartan news.

January 16th, 2020

As Dantonio’s contract rolls over, he will receive the longevity bonus that was written into his deal nearly four years ago. MSU must give him the $4.3 million, one-time payout “in recognition of his long-service to the University” on or before March 31, per the terms of the agreement that were added Feb. 19, 2016, after the Spartans won their third Big Ten championship in six years and a College Football Playoff berth.

Source: Detroit Free Press

January 15th, 2020

The Michigan State football coach is due the bonus for serving in his position through Jan. 15, 2020.

Source: MLive.com

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