Seidel: Satellite camps? ‘What we are doing is working,’ Dantonio says
EAST LANSING – Suddenly, we are in the season of the satellite camp.
Or, as Alabama football coach Nick Saban said, we have entered the “wild, wild West” of recruiting, where everything is escalating and accelerating.
But Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio stayed on campus Friday afternoon, which was a strategic decision on its own.
“What we are doing is working,” Dantonio said, sitting in his office.
It is well documented that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is on an epic tour, as the U-M coaching staff is part of at least 38 camps across 21 states in two countries.
But what about Michigan State?
Is Dantonio going to do the same thing?
“Are you planning a 50-city tour?” I asked Dantonio.
“I’m tempted,” Dantonio said. “I’m tempted. But in my mind, it’s time and money.”
Translation: He just doesn’t think it’s worth it. Not yet at least. Not on that scale.
So MSU will dabble in off-campus camps this summer, opting for a targeted approach, focusing on specific areas where the Spartans have found talent in the past, instead of taking a shotgun approach across the entire country. Dantonio or members of his staff will attend 12 camps over a 21-day period, which started Saturday in Atlanta — but it’s a far cry from Michigan’s epic romp from Australia to Hawaii.
This has Dantonio freaked out, right?
That Harbaugh is gaining some kind of edge?
Is he stressing out?
“I say the same thing I say to my players: ‘Pressure is good,’ ” Dantonio said. “ ‘It makes you pay attention to detail, makes you prepare, makes you stay on point. Stress is bad.’ ”
He paused.
“I’m not stressing about it,” Dantonio said. “Everybody has their way of doing their job. I’m going to do my job. It’s worked. What we have done has worked.”
A short walk from his office, on the first floor, the trophies and awards on display in the lobby of Skandalaris Football Center reinforce his point.
The Paul Bunyan Trophy, which the Spartans retained by beating U-M in 2015, sits in a glass display case. MSU has defeated the Wolverines seven of the past eight seasons. Inside the display case, there is a poster titled “Champions Beat Michigan” with a series of photos and scores from those seven victories.
Other display cases hold the 2015 Big Ten East Division championship trophy, the 2015 Big Ten championship game trophy and a trophy from the last College Football Playoff.
Another display case honors the career of Connor Cook, the winningest quarterback in program history.
Clearly, it has been working at MSU.
But you could argue those display cases also hint at uncertainty: Cook is gone and MSU doesn’t have a clear-cut replacement, and the Spartans were crushed, 38-0, by Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
“What we are doing is right,” Dantonio said. “We have won, I guess, 36 of 41 games. We have averaged 12 wins the last three years. So, what we are doing is working.”
Only so much time
On a table in the middle of Dantonio’s office, there was a piece of paper that listed every player on MSU’s roster. Dantonio has spent the past few weeks trying to meet with every player on that sheet. He has seven players left.
“I think it’s important to sit down and figure out what’s going on in their lives,” Dantonio said. “What’s going on in their families? What’s going on academically?”
He spends at least a half hour with each player.
“What’s your level of commitment?” he asks them. “What’s your level of trust? How do you rank your position coach? How is your relationship with him? How do you feel about me? Honest answers. What are your goals?
“We start with that, and it spins off to wherever it goes.”
For MSU, this is an important time of self-evaluation. It’s a time to build relationships. It’s a time to focus on player development — in the weight room and on the practice field, as the players practice by themselves, building trust and chemistry. And it’s a time for the assistant coaches to rest after a long month of travel and recruiting in May.
Dantonio fears that going to countless satellite camps will eat away at that.
“It’s going to take away our time here,” he said. “It’s going to take away our time with our players. These meetings here. Keep in mind, our coaches do this with every single one of their players, too. It takes away from that. It takes away from us doing opponent studies. It takes away from us critiquing ourselves thoroughly.”
MSU will hold several camps on campus this summer. “Various camps — senior camp, rising star camp, kicking camp, big linemen camp, passing camp,” Dantonio said. “We got them all.”
Dantonio is worried that sending his assistant coaches to too many off-campus camps will turn into a negative in the long run.
“I think it’s important to be fresh and enthusiastic,” he said. “We need time away, not just program time, but family time. Personal time. You want your coaches to be happy. They are more productive.”
Dantonio is not knocking what Michigan is doing. In fact, he never referred to Michigan directly Friday.
But it’s not what he wants to do. At least, not right now.
And he is not resting on his laurels.
“We have tried to base our thoughts on what is going to be good for our program,” he said, “and go from there.”
Camp irony
I don’t think satellite camps are bad things.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m sending my son to one in a different sport. I like the player working with a coach on the field.
But you want to know the great irony of this satellite camp craze? By rule, this is a quiet period in football. This is the time when football coaches are not allowed to talk to recruits.
Not unless it’s at a “camp.”
“If I chose to go to a camp, I can go talk to a kid if I’m working a camp,” Dantonio said, using his fingers to put air quotes around the word “working.”
“Does that make sense to you?” I asked.
“Not really, no,” he said.
“I find this …” I started and stopped.
“Bizarre,” he said.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!
Going camping
Michigan State will be present at the following noninstitutional camps:
Today, Ft. Wayne, Ind.: R.A.S. Camp
Tuesday, Houston: Sound Mind Sound Body
Wednesday, Dayton, Ohio: Midwestern Showcase (Mark Dantonio)
Wednesday, Madison, N.J.: Tri-State Showcase
Wednesday, Cleveland: Raw Talent Showcase
Wednesday, Lake Park, Ill.: Lake Park Football Camp
Thursday, Dallas: Elite Kat Camps
Friday, Detroit: Sound Mind Sound Body (Mark Dantonio)
June 12, Tampa: Sound Mind Sound Body
June 17, Los Angeles: Sound Mind Sound Body
June 24, Washington, D.C.: Sound Mind Sound Body