Mark Dantonio leaving will be good for Michigan State

Erik Buchinger February 4, 2020 2:35 pm

Thirteen years is a long time for any college football coach, Mark Dantonio is calling it quits at Michigan State. This comes after allegations of NCAA violations and two weeks after qualifying to receive a $4.3 million retention bonus. Get out when the fire is hot, but not before a big pay day. Well played.

Unless something comes out of this potential NCAA violation, this will wind up being a good thing for a Michigan State football program that really needs a spark to shake things up. Dantonio is the all-time winningest coach in school history making it difficult to fire him despite the program continued to trend in the wrong direction.

The Spartans had a stretch of double-digit wins in five of six seasons. Since then, Michigan State finished the regular season .500 or worse in three of the past four years, and recruiting classes are getting worse.

I went to the Michigan State-Wisconsin game this past fall and after the Badgers’ 38-0 win, I declared Spartan football to be dead wondering how much longer till we see Dantonio on the hot seat. After a disappointing offense in 2018, Dantonio kept every coach on staff but switched them to different spots, but the offense did not look any different.

People might get upset about this happening on the eve of National Signing Day, but tomorrow isn’t that important anymore because most of the class signed in December.

What’s next for Michigan State? The top candidate being thrown around right now is Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, and I think that makes a whole lot of sense. As for Dantonio, he is 63 years old. If I were to guess, I’d say his coaching career is all over.

College football never sleeps.