Mark Dantonio: Jim Harbaugh 'truly one of the best coaches'
EAST LANSING - Jim Harbaugh praised Mark Dantonio on Monday.
Today, it was the Michigan State football coach’s turn to return the warm glow.
Dantonio complimented the second-year Michigan coach for the job he has done in making the transition from pro football back to the college ranks.
“I think coach Harbaugh has done a tremendous job there, obviously,” Dantonio said. “Probably truly one of the best coaches maybe that have come through -- whether it’s college coaching or in the NFL -- in past years. Obviously, very well-established, and he's got things going down there.”
Harbaugh a day earlier called the job Dantonio has done during his 10 seasons at MSU “one of the best college football coaching jobs in the history of the game.”
Heading into Saturday’s matchup at Spartan Stadium (noon, ESPN), the second-ranked Wolverines are 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. They have outscored their opponents, 341-70, including 182-25 in their past four games.
Harbaugh is 17-3 at U-M since leaving the NFL's San Francisco 49ers to return to his alma mater.
“I think he keeps you off-base, what he's doing, in terms of offensive football and things of that nature,” Dantonio said. “I think he's going to be extremely hands-on with his football team. You can see him touching many different facets of his football team. You can tell that.”
In their first meeting last year, Dantonio’s Spartans defeated Harbaugh’s Wolverines, 27-23, on Jalen Watts-Jackson’s touchdown return of a fumbled Michigan punt snap as time expired.
“The reality of it is, when we've won, you feel good about it, great about it,” Dantonio said. “When you've lost, I don't care if you lose by two points, you don't feel as good. … This one maybe just is a little bit more because it's in-state and it's a rivalry game.
“And because it means so much more maybe to not just our fans but maybe to the players who have played in it in the past and the overall general feeling that we have for each other, that sense of love. Or lack thereof.”
STICKING UP: Dantonio was asked how much input he has with MSU’s struggling offense. He described wanting a “toughness mentality” with being able to run the ball first and foremost. He also boasted about having produced a number of pros at quarterback and wide receiver as well as running backs over his first nine seasons.
And he stuck up for co-offensive coordinators Dave Warner and Jim Bollman and their roles in calling plays and honing what Dantonio wants from his offense, pointing to their productivity the past three seasons.
“I’m going to allow our coaches to coach,” Dantonio said. “I’m going to have great faith in our coaches, and I'm going to have a great deal of loyalty for our coaches because I know what's going on on the inside, and I know how hard our coaches work.”
NO DEPTH CHART: For the first time in Dantonio’s 10-year tenure, MSU did not release a pregame depth chart. The coach said it was due to a number of injuries the Spartans are experiencing.
“I said, ‘Hey, just put Spartan there,” Dantonio joked. “Just put Spartan, Spartan, Spartan, Spartan, because somebody is going to be out there with a green helmet on.”
Surely, it’s just a coincidence that Michigan hasn’t released a depth chart at all this season. In playful retaliation earlier this season, Colorado peppered its pregame depth chart with famous people and fictional characters before its 45-28 loss to the Wolverines on Sept. 17.
PEPPERS PREP: MSU struggled to contain Michigan’s Jabril Peppers when he had the ball last year as a freshman. The versatile hybrid player finished with 164 all-purpose yards – three kickoff returns for 81 yards, three punt returns for 34 yards and two catches for 35 yards. Peppers also had two tackles on defense.
Now a sophomore, Peppers has become an even more integral weapon for Harbaugh. Dantonio knows stopping him – especially on special teams, but also in other areas – will be critical.
“They use him on offense in multiple different areas and different places,” Dantonio said. “And I'm sure he’ll have at the minimum – if I say five, coach Harbaugh may put him in in six different ways, so I'll say two. But he's going to be in there, whether he's at quarterback, tailback, wide receiver. Wherever he's at, we've got to know where he's at when he's in the football game on offense.”