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Michigan State Football: Mark Dantonio “hot seat” talk is ridiculous

By Connor Muldowney

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans answers questions after defeating the Stanford Cardinal 24-20 in the 100th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans answers questions after defeating the Stanford Cardinal 24-20 in the 100th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Talk of Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio being on the “hot seat” in 2017 is ridiculous, and here’s why.

Just 10 years ago at this time, there was uncertainty surrounding the Michigan State football program. Mark Dantonio had just hired over from Cincinnati as the Spartans’ new head coach and he vowed to work hard to turn Michigan State back into a consistent winner.

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Those words had been uttered before by other coaches such as Bobby Williams and John L. Smith, but they failed to follow through with their promises. In fact, those two combined for a 37-43 record in seven seasons — Morris Watts took over at the end of 2002 and went 1-2.

Dantonio was taking over a program in shambles. The Spartans had made just two bowl games in the previous seven seasons and hadn’t won a postseason contest since 2001. Sitting in the basement of the Big Ten standings on a consistent basis, the Spartans were in desperate need of a change. Dantonio was that needed change.

In year one, he led Michigan State to a 7-6 record, nearly beating top rival Michigan which Dantonio followed up with his famous “pride comes before the fall” quote. The Spartans made their first bowl appearance since 2003 but lost.

Michigan State beat Michigan the following season en route to a 9-4 record, finishing No. 24 in the postseason AP Poll after losing the Capital One Bowl.

The Spartans would go on to make a bowl for nine straight seasons leading up to 2016. In fact, the Spartans won three division titles, three conference titles, two Big Ten Championship Games, a Rose Bowl, a Cotton Bowl and made it to the 2015 College Football Playoff in Dantonio’s first nine seasons — something everyone imagined, but never thought would be possible.

The head coach turned the program around. Michigan State was no longer a bottom-dweller, but an annual conference title contender, winning 11-plus games in 5-of-6 seasons. Ohio State was aware of the rise as well as the Spartans seemed to be the only Big Ten program to take down the Urban Meyer-led Buckeyes.

All was right with Michigan State football. Heck, there was even talk of Dantonio surpassing, or at least matching the level, Tom Izzo in terms of success at Michigan State.

One 3-9 season and some off-field issues that were correctly and promptly dealt with later and Dantonio is on the “hot seat” according to the national media. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Yes, he had an unacceptably poor season, but he has brought Michigan State back from the brink before.

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Don’t listen to the national media when it comes to “hot seat” talk with Dantonio, because they seem to forget where Michigan State was when he took over. He’s ready to prove 2016 was an extreme outlier and make the doubters look bad soon enough.

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