You know you’re getting old when Michigan State football players that you watched during the Mark Dantonio era are being hired as coaches.
The Dantonio era producing future coaches isn’t exactly the most surprising thing, but a lot of us probably didn’t expect to see them years deep into their coaching careers already.
Max Bullough had been at Notre Dame as a grad assistant before getting a promotion to linebackers coach, and now he’s back in East Lansing as the Spartans’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He’s the most famous former Dantonio era player in the coaching world, but there are others trying to make names for themselves and move up the ranks.
One former Dantonio linebacker was just hired by an in-state program.
Former Spartan LB Steve Gardiner is headed to GVSU
According to a press release by Grand Valley, the Lakers are hiring former Spartan linebacker Steve Gardiner as the new special teams coordinator. He spent the past two seasons as the special teams coordinator at Gardner-Webb. Gardiner also got his start as a grad assistant under Dantonio from 2014-19, and then he moved on to Northwood after his head coach retired.
Gardiner also spent time at Wayne State before making his way to Grand Valley this offseason.
He’s joining a program with an extensive history of success. Although Grand Valley hasn’t won a national title in 20 years, they’ve won four conference titles and have made nine playoff appearances since 2010. Third-year head coach Scott Wooster is carrying that success on.
Gardiner isn’t exactly a household name for Spartan fans, but he played during the Dantonio era alongside Bullough, and finished his career with 43 tackles and a tackle for loss from 2009-12.
Obviously Bullough is the household name at linebacker from those teams, but Gardiner put in the work as a backup to provide depth, and it’s often players like him who become the best coaches. Gardiner has been in the coaching ranks since 2014, so he must be doing something right.
We’ll have to check back to see who’s had more success in 2026, Bullough or Gardiner.