Mark Dantonio may be well removed from the sideline, but the former Michigan State coach didn’t sound like a man who’s lost much of anything when he addressed the team on Friday.
Dantonio, who hasn’t been the head coach at Michigan State since the winter semester of 2020 and spent a short stretch back around the program as extra help for Harlon Barnett, has been away from the game for the better part of a decade. Still, his recent time around Pat Fitzgerald’s program this offseason has made one thing clear: he can still deliver a message that lands.
“It takes grit. pic.twitter.com/MotGUfRd62”
The speech came off like the version of Coach D that Spartan fans remember from his best years. He may be a little older and a touch more subdued than he was in his prime, but the tone, the edge and the message all still showed up. Dantonio has always known how to push a team to get more out of itself, and that trait still seems to be intact.
That matters for Fitzgerald, who brings a different kind of energy. Dantonio’s more measured style fits neatly alongside Fitzgerald’s fiery demeanor, giving the program a balance that can work in a big way. The two have a relationship built on mutual respect, and it shows.
Their history goes back to some memorable battles when Fitzgerald was at Northwestern, including the famous “mouse trap” game and the overtime showdown in 2017 that Northwestern won in one of the season’s best games. Those matchups were fierce, but the respect between the two coaches has clearly carried over.
For Fitzgerald, having Dantonio around is about more than nostalgia. It gives him someone who knows the Michigan State program inside and out and understands what works in East Lansing. If Fitzgerald ever needs advice, Dantonio has the experience and the perspective to help point him in the right direction.
There’s also something fitting about Dantonio continuing to show up for the program years after retirement. He’s been retired for seven years, but he still comes back to speak to the team and meet the players. That kind of presence says plenty about how much Michigan State still means to him.
Fitzgerald appears to be building the kind of culture that brings back people who helped create the standard in the first place. With Dantonio around, Michigan State has a setup that makes a lot of sense.
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