Tag: Mark Dantonio

Nightly Roundup: March 11, 2020

The headline news is, of course, that Michigan is…

• canceling in-person classes due to coronavirus.
• going to play basketball tournament games in front of empty stadiums.
• canceling on-campus and off-campus recruiting visits.

That stuff is all pretty much unprecedented. I listen to the Joe Rogan Experience pretty regularly, and this was an interesting one:

Mark Dantonio and Michigan State are facing some new allegations (LINK).

Hit the jump for more.

Mark Dantonio is gone from Michigan State

I don’t normally relish the departure of a coach, but let me say that I take special pleasure in the downfall of Mark Dantonio and Michigan State. Unfortunately, Michigan’s rivals are not only Michigan’s rivals, but they have also been led by despicable leaders and human beings in recent years, including Gene Smith, Urban Meyer, and Jim Tressel at Ohio State, and…well…just about everyone in administration at Michigan State.

I have numerous friends who went to Michigan State and spent a good chunk of my undergraduate time visiting MSU’s campus. I grew up as a Michigan fan and have never liked MSU, but at one time, I had a grudging respect for them.

That faded a long time ago.

Dantonio has proven himself to be a cheater and terrible human being for years and years. Here are just a few of his issues:

• He recruited known troublemaker Auston Robertson to Michigan State and put people on MSU’s campus in danger, and Robertson predictably attacked someone on campus.
• That followed a steady string of letting convicted criminals back onto the team, including Delton Williams and Glenn Winston.
• Dantonio led a program that included several players being busted for performance enhancing drugs, including Joe Bachie and Max Bullough.
• Dantonio promoted a dirty on-the-field program that twisted ankles, twisted heads, head-hunted, committed late hits, etc.
• Dantonio led the hand-in-hand thuggish pre-game walk that led to an altercation with Michigan’s Devin Bush, Jr. in 2018.
• Dantonio’s “war of words” with Mike Hart while insulting Hart about his height showed us all very early on what kind of immaturity lingered within his mind.
• Dantonio somewhat infamously degraded former Michigan assistant coach Jeff Hecklinski at a football clinic and bullied him off the stage.

These are just a few of the Dantonio’s infractions over the years, and I didn’t even mention the treatment of his staffers and recruiting violations that he is now being investigated for, which seem to have forced him into a resignation. Nor does it include the fact that he waited until approximately two weeks after a $4.3 million contract bonus, only to abandon his recruits and program on the day before National Signing Day (albeit National Signing Day #2 for the 2020 class).

Dantonio is a do-whatever-it-takes-to-win-two-thirds-of-the-time trash human being running away with his tail between his legs. This is an appropriately awkward and transparent departure for a coach who perpetually put his team in precarious positions but somehow escaped consequences until now, and he walks away with nice parting gift from the athletic department, which perhaps ensures that he will keep his mouth shut about all the bad things that have yet to come to light.

Michigan 44, Michigan State 10

That was a beatdown. We’ll get that way out of the way first. The game was closer than that for a while – especially after MSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead – but Michigan pulled away with 17, 10, and 17 points in the final three quarters, respectively. The Spartans ended up with 54 rushing yards and 220 yards overall, while Michigan had 467 total yards, including 384 through the air.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 12, Michigan State 10

Drew Dileo (image via AnnArbor.com)

Well, that was terrifying.  That was way too much of a heart attack game for my liking.  I mean, I still liked the end result and everything, but that game was frustrating.  Neither team could do anything consistently on offense, and I’m not convinced that it’s because both defenses are great.  Both defenses are very good, but the offenses are just so-so.

That being said, yay!  Good golly, I hate Mark Dantonio.  I hate William Gholston, too, but Dantonio is the biggest tool of a coach in the Big Ten, even more so than Bret Bielema.  It would have felt great to see Dantonio lose, even if Michigan wasn’t the opponent.  It just makes the win that much sweeter that seniors Denard Robinson, Elliott Mealer, Patrick Omameh, Jordan Kovacs, Craig Roh, etc. succeed in their last chance to beat the Spartans.  Congratulations to those guys.

Thank you, Drew Dileo.  Wide receiver Drew Dileo played a great game.  He’s never going to be the fastest player in the field, and he certainly isn’t the biggest.  But he’s the type of do-it-all player and possession receiver that finds all kinds of ways to win a football game.  He came up huge in the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech, and he had another standout performance on Saturday with 4 catches for 92 yards . . . and as the holder on all four of Michigan’s scoring plays.

Brendan Gibbons and Matt Wile were great.  I was extremely impressed with the solid kicking from these two guys.  Gibbons was 3/3 kicking, including the 38-yard game-winner.  Wile was 1/1 in his first career chance to kick a field goal, and that one was a long attempt from 48 yards.  Obviously, each of the four kicks was huge.

Jeremy Jackson is slow.  At a couple points in the game, I couldn’t help harking back to the days when wide receiver Jeremy Jackson was recruited.  I said then that he didn’t have the athleticism to be an impact player at Michigan, and I still question why he’s on the field so much.  Denard Robinson targeted him a couple times deep, and while the throws could have been more accurate, Jackson looked like he was running in quicksand.  If the play call is for someone to go deep, then Jackson should be replaced by someone with a little giddyup.

The defense was pretty darn good.  There wasn’t much of a pass rush, and the coverage on the outside was mediocre.  But the Wolverines only allowed 68 yards to Le’Veon Bell (on 26 carries) and 86 total rushing yards to the offense (punter Mike Sadler ran 26 yards on a fake punt, which I won’t pin on the defense).  Desmond Morgan (11 tackles) is playing very well, and Jake Ryan (10 tackles, 1 sack) was all over the place once again, and Bell’s longest run was 8 yards.

Cornerbacks are a concern.  J.T. Floyd made a couple nice plays on short passes and supporting the run, which is an improvement for him; however, he was beaten deep a couple times by receivers who were unable to hook up with MSU quarterback Andrew Maxwell.  Meanwhile, Raymon Taylor left with an elbow injury, leaving the opposite side to slot corner Courtney Avery.  I’m hoping that Taylor can return soon, because the Wolverines are running out of healthy corners.  The only other guys left on the roster are backup slot corner Delonte Hollowell and tiny freshman Terry Richardson.

Michigan has 900 wins.  That’s more wins than any other football program in the history of the whole wide universe.  By comparison, Michigan State has 643 all-time victories.  The Wolverines are now 68-32-5 against the Spartans.

The 2012 In-State Recruiting Battle

Mario Ojemudia is Michigan’s top prospect, according to the Detroit News

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio has claimed in recent years that he cares more about in-state recruiting than Michigan, and that might have been true in the years when Rich Rodriguez was the head man at Michigan.  But the arrival of Brady Hoke might have swayed the favor in-state toward Ann Arbor.  Let’s take a look at the top recruits in the state of Michigan, based on the Detroit News’ blue-chip list:

1. Mario Ojemudia – DE – Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’3″, 225 lb. end – who also played a lot of defensive tackle – had 104 tackles and 14 sacks.  He considered Michigan State early, but committed to Michigan on May 7, 2011, and stuck with Michigan to the end.

2. Terry Richardson – CB – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 5’9″, 160 lb. cornerback made 5 interceptions during his senior season.  He was a little later in committing than his in-state friends James Ross and Royce Jenkins-Stone, but he hopped on board on May 19, 2011.  He entertained taking visits to other schools, but mostly he was considering heading to SEC country rather than East Lansing.  However, Michigan’s coaches told him that if he visited elsewhere, they wouldn’t necessarily reserve a spot for him in the recruiting class.  He did not visit elsewhere and signed with Michigan.

3. James Ross – LB – Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’0″, 210 lb. linebacker made 173 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks as a senior.  He had committed to Michigan back on May 2, 2011, and remained committed throughout the process.

4. Royce Jenkins-Stone – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’2″, 215 lb. middle linebacker made 115 unassisted tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions as a senior.  He had committed to Michigan on April 16, 2011, and remained committed until National Signing Day.

5. Aaron Burbridge – WR – Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’2″, 185 lb. wideout reportedly wanted to commit to Michigan along with teammates Ojemudia and Devin Funchess, but he didn’t have the grades to get into Michigan(that sentiment was confirmed by Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson).  He committed to Michigan State on July 28, 2011, and signed with the Spartans on National Signing Day.

6. Matt Godin – DE – Novi (MI) Catholic Central
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’6″, 270 lb. defensive end/tackle made 70 tackles and 9 sacks as a senior.  He committed to Michigan on May 12, 2011, and signed with Michigan.

7. Devin Funchess – TE – Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’4″, 215 lb. tight end committed to Michigan on April 22, 2011, and signed with Michigan in February.

8. Danny O’Brien – DT – Flint (MI) Powers Catholic
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’2″, 293 lb. defensive tackle considered both in-state schools heavily, but committed to Tennessee on October 6, 2011, and signed with the Volunteers in February.

9. Ron Thompson – TE – Southfield (MI) Southfield
Offered by: Michigan only
The 6’4″, 230 lb. tight end made 57 receptions for 729 yards and 9 touchdowns as a senior.  He was offered by Michigan early in the process but the Wolverines reportedly backed off due to some classroom issues.  He committed to Syracuse on November 7, 2011, and signed with the Orangemen in February.

10. Ben Braden – OT – Rockford (MI) Rockford
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 6’7″, 320 lb. offensive tackle committed to Michigan on March 24, 2011.  He signed with the Wolverines in February.

11. Evan Winston – DE – Muskegon (MI) Muskegon
Offered by: Neither in-state school
The 6’4″, 255 lb. defensive end committed to Missouri on July 23, 2011, and signed with the Tigers in February.

12. Jamal Lyles – LB – Southfield (MI) Lathrup
Offered by: Michigan State only
The 6’3″, 215 lb. linebacker made 135 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, and 4 interceptions.  He committed to Michigan State on June 23, 2011, and signed with the Spartans in February.

13. Drake Johnson – RB – Ann Arbor (MI) Pioneer
Offered by: Michigan only
The 6’1″, 215 lb. running back ran for 2,805 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior.  He committed to Michigan on November 10, 2011, almost immediately after receiving an offer, and signed with Michigan in February.

14. Dennis Norfleet – RB – Detroit (MI) King
Offered by: Michigan and Michigan State
The 5’6″, 180 lb. had 2,033 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior.  He was committed to Cincinnati for several months, but he switched his commitment to Michigan on the eve of National Signing Day.

15. Ruben Lile – LB – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Offered by: Neither in-state school
Lile committed to Iowa on August 27, 2011, and signed with the Hawkeyes in February.

NOT RANKED:
Riley Bullough – LB – Traverse City (MI) St. Francis
Offered by: Michigan State only
Bullough committed to Michigan State on April 30, 2011.

Kodi Kieler – OT – Gibraltar (MI) Carlson
Offered by: Michigan State only
Kieler committed to Michigan State on August 8, 2011.

SUMMARY
Ten players were offered by both Michigan and Michigan State.  Eight of them picked Michigan, including six of the top seven.  One picked Michigan State (although, as mentioned above, it sounded like Michigan wouldn’t accept his commitment so he went with Plan B).  The other picked Tennessee.

Michigan went after two players who were not offered by MSU.  One picked Michigan.  The other picked Syracuse.

Michigan State went after three players who were not offered by Michigan.  All three picked MSU.

I think it’s fair to say that Michigan kicked Michigan State’s tail when it comes to recruiting in the state.  Brady Hoke 8, Mark Dantonio 1.  I look forward to seeing what 2013 brings.  It’s already 1-0 in Michigan’s favor with Warren (MI) De La Salle quarterback Shane Morris pledging to be a Wolverine.