Michigan State's Mark Dantonio 'humbled' by chance to 'flip' record
EAST LANSING — Two days before Thanksgiving, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio started counting his blessings.
Of course, his family remains as important as always. But in the wake of perhaps the most taxing 18 months of his coaching career, Dantonio took pause to reflect on what the 22nd-ranked Spartans have done this season — both for his program and for him.
“I guess you're thankful for the way our football team has handled themselves in a difficult situation, beginning with spring practice,” Dantonio said Tuesday. “The way our seniors have represented — the things they've done, how they've handled themselves off the field in terms of organizing themselves, coming into this season with an understanding that they had a path to follow and they were going to be deliberate on that path.
“Love our players. It's been a very fun team to coach, very fun team. Get a lot of smiles, laughs every day. They're energetic. They come to practice. They come to play.”
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Dantonio said MSU’s goal Saturday at Rutgers (4 p.m./Fox) is to “flip it,” to reverse last year’s record completely and to end with a 9-3 mark going into a bowl game .
That comes after a 2016 season in which the Spartans went 3-9. Then came early 2017, with one sexual assault investigation into a January incident and another sexual assault case in April resulting in the dismissal of four players (Donnie Corley, Josh King, Demetric Vance and Auston Robertson).
MSU lost a total of 13 underclassmen from last year’s team, including five who played as first-year freshmen and two who left a year early for the NFL Draft. It also severed ties with Curtis Blackwell, who had been integral in recruiting efforts.
The Spartans managed to move on and, with Dantonio’s youngest team in his 11 seasons in East Lansing, remained in the Big Ten East title hunt until last week. They’ve done so by playing a Dantonio-era record 13 true freshmen; the Spartans have one of the nation’s youngest rosters, with 77 players who are sophomores or younger.
“Never went into a game thinking we couldn't win. Never went into a game thinking this is a wash and we're going to win,” Dantonio said. “It's just the way this game is built sort of. I think maybe coaches are built, but certainly this particular coach is built like that. That's what we'll do.
“It's rewarding to flip it. Right now, we’ve flipped 3-8 to 8-3. It's rewarding to see that, to see there's something that all your hard work comes to fruition and all the things you talk about and go through as a group, you see that sort of move forward. I think that's exciting for any program at any point in time.”
And one game remains on the road at Rutgers (4-7, 3-5) for MSU (8-3, 6-2) to add to their turnaround, lock up at least a tie for second place in the Big Ten East division and solidify their bowl profile.
“When you're winning, it helps,” Dantonio said. “It's been a fast season. But I think, again, what am I thankful for? I've always been thankful just to be the head coach at Michigan State. I've been humbled by that. Humbled by everything that comes along with that.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.