Reaching Higher: Mark Dantonio and the Rise of Michigan State Football - Hardcover

News, The State

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1629373206 ISBN 13: 9781629373201

Verlag: Triumph Books, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

After winning 13 games in 2013 and 11 in 2014, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio was anything but satisfied. Dantonio announced in the summer that his 2015 team's motto would be, 'reach higher.' The Spartans did just that. Behind quarterback Conner Cook and one of the nation's top defenses, Michigan State survived a few early-season scares before statement wins over rivals Michigan and Ohio State set up a Big Ten championship game match-up against Iowa. In Indianapolis, MSU scored on an epic final drive to secure the conference championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Reaching Higher is the story of how Coach Dantonio elevated Michigan State into college football's elite, told through images and stories from from The State News, Michigan State's award-winning student newspaper. This commemorative edition highlights the key moments and stars from the Dantonio era in East Lansing, from Dantonio's hiring in 2007 to the thrilling overtime win over Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl to the 2013 Big Ten championship season and Rose Bowl win to the program's College Football Playoff berth in 2015. Also including features on stars Cook, Kirk Cousins, Le'veon Bell, and others, Reaching Higher is an essential read for every Spartans fan.

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The State News is the student newspaper at Michigan State University. In 2015, the Society of Professional Journalists named The State News as the nation's best daily college newspaper for 2014.

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Reaching Higher

Mark Dantonio and the Rise of Michigan State Football

By The State News

Triumph Books LLC

Copyright © 2016 The State News
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-62937-320-1

Contents

Introduction, 
Coaching Decision Good Call For MSU, 
Dantionio's 100th Game, 
Izzo And Mark Dantonio Have Developed A Close Friendship, 
Dantonio: 'It's not over', 
Seasoned Hoyer Set To Finish Where He Started, 
All Grown Up, 
Three Of A Kind, 
Time To Remove 'Same Old Spartans' Label, 
Leader Of Men, 
Fake Field Goal Gives Spartans Overtime Win Vs. Notre Dame, 
Dantonio OK After Heart Attack; Treadwell To Step In As Coach, 
Leaving A Legacy, 
At Long Last, 
A Hail Of A Win, 
Bell Gains National Spotlight With Strong Showing Against Boise State, 
Spartan Stadium's 500th Game, 
Run This State, 
A Deeper Look At 'Charlie Brown', 
Kyler Elsworth Seals MSU's Rose Bowl Victory Over Stanford, 
Keep Your Enemies Close, 
Iron Man, 
MSU Comes Back To Win The Cotton Bowl, 'Never Lost Belief', 
MSU Football Program Sets High Goals For Upcoming Season, 
MSU Football Team Makes Statement In 31-28 Victory Over Oregon, 
For Homecoming, MSU Football Looks To Both The Past And Future, 
Cook On Wild Victory: "Honestly, It Just Felt Like A Dream", 
ESPN's Most-Watched 3:30 p.m. Game Of All Time, 
MSU Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over Ohio State, 
Cook Taking His Place As Best Quarterback In Spartan History, 
MSU Defeats Iowa 16-13, Likely Advances To College Football Playoff, 
MSU Football's Miraculous 2015 Journey Continues With The College Football Playoff, 
Despite Disappointing Loss In Cotton Bowl, MSU Football's Future Is Bright, 
Mark Dantonio Through The Years, 

CHAPTER 1

Coaching Decision Good Call For MSU

By Steve Highfield • November 28, 2006

Don't look now, but MSU got it right.

During the almost month-long coaching search since John L. Smith was fired, there's been pessimism, uncertainty and speculation surrounding the hiring process.

It's taking too long.

Politics within the administration will be the downfall of this hire.

MSU will make the same old mistakes.

And who could blame people expressing those sentiments? Hindsight proved that both John L. Smith and his predecessor, Bobby Williams, were the wrong hires.

But on Monday, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon swung a swift ax through the roots of those doubts when she introduced Mark Dantonio as MSU's next football coach.

Critics still have their theories that Dantonio was the compromise pick after Simon wanted Central Michigan coach Brian Kelly and others involved in the search preferred Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

But in a process filled with conspiracy theories and alleged sources embedded deep within the university, I instead employ common sense. If Dantonio wasn't in fact an initial leading candidate, how is a contract in place for him approximately 19 hours after the first interview with him was conducted?

The fact is, MSU interviewed him late in the process because that's what was mandated by Dantonio's situation. His Cincinnati team played its last regular season game Saturday, and, out of respect, he didn't want to interview or comment prior to regular season's end.

None of that implies Dantonio came out of nowhere.

"I had a pretty good sense that I was a finalist early on," Dantonio said. "It was just a matter of whether they were going to wait and interview me or not. Michigan State did it the right way."

The right way meant MSU's four-man interview team — Ron Mason, Mark Hollis, Tom Izzo and former MSU football player and current MSU police Lt. Alan Haller — departed for Cincinnati late Saturday night — after MSU's basketball game against Oakland at Breslin Center — to interview Dantonio.

Simon spoke with Dantonio again Sunday morning, and a five-year contract was in place by Sunday evening.

You may call that move desperation. I call it decisiveness.

He's not the sexiest pick, but he's the right one. A sexy pick might put a spread offense on the field and climb mountains in the off-season, but the right pick instills toughness and a winning attitude in all of his players.

There are few résumés that could have meshed with MSU's coaching wish list better than Dantonio's. He has head coaching experience, putting together an 1817 record and two bowl berths in three years as Cincinnati's head coach. Before he took the Cincinnati job, he helped put together Ohio State's defense as its defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, his defense played an integral role in Ohio State winning the national championship.

Still not good enough? Dantonio served as defensive secondary coach for MSU from 1995 to 2000 — a time when MSU actually had a secondary. During those six seasons, seven different MSU defensive backs earned some type of All-Big Ten honors.

He brings all sorts of intangibles to the table. He has a toughness to him, and he demands that toughness and effort be prevalent in all his players. At the same time, he strives to be a coach his players can turn to for off-field help.

He knows about MSU's tradition and says his aim is to "bring all the Spartans together." He's familiar with recruiting in the Midwest and Michigan and has experience recruiting in the South. He is aggressively attacking a job the last two coaches failed at. Perhaps most encouraging of all, he doesn't line up 186-pound wide receivers at quarterback or have a game plan that involves a bandit.

"I don't think you find a perfect guy," Izzo said. "It's the perfect guy for your fit and the perfect guy that's multidimensional enough to deal with all the things you have to deal with in that situation.

"In that respect, he's the perfect guy."

And who am I to argue with Izzo?

CHAPTER 2

Dantionio's 100th Game

It's been more than seven years since football head coach Mark Dantonio took the job at MSU. With his 100th game approaching against Indiana on Saturday, he reflects on the progress the program has seen since 2007

By Geoff Preston • October 16, 2014

Nov. 27, 2006, was a day that changed the course of Spartan history forever. It was the day that Mark Dantonio and his staff took over for John L. Smith at MSU.

Nearly eight years, two Big Ten championships and one Rose Bowl title later, in the blink of an eye it has been 99 games under the current regime. Saturday, when No. 8 MSU (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) goes on the road to face Indiana, (3-3 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) it will be the 100th game for Dantonio at MSU.

It's been a tenure marked by more than a 69-30 record, according to his players and coaching staff. It has been a tenure marked by honesty, excellence and change in the lives of the people on and off the field.

Old faces

In the coaching carousel world of college football, it's rare to find a staff that is able to stay together as long as the staff under Dantonio has.

"Probably the most important thing I did here was select our staff," he said. "The continuity we've had as a staff has been largely responsible for our success both on the playing field and off."

The lack of turnover has helped the staff become better coaches as well. Offensive line coach Mark Staten has been in East Lansing for all 99 previous games and said the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Triumph Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1629373206
• ISBN 13: 9781629373201
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 144
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
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