Mark Dantonio
Mark Dantonio
Mark Justin Dantoniois an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since the 2007 season, presiding over one of the most successful eras in the program's history. He's led the Michigan State Spartans to three Big Ten Conference championships, and seven victories over archrival Michigan in eight years. In 2013, he coached Michigan State to its first 13-win season and the program's fifth trip to...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth9 March 1956
CityEl Paso, TX
I'm not going to walk out of here with my head down. I'm not looking for moral victories. I'm just looking for guys who will play with toughness and will compete and I think we did that. Maybe (Penn State) thought we were going to go in the bag, but I was going to keep playing.
I am very excited about this class because we have guys that can contribute now with the young guys that now have experience after one year under their belt.
Nick Davila had a good day yesterday. He's another guy that's got game experience. Tony Pike for the first time since he's been here has made gains in winter conditioning and feels more confident as a player. He's a Cincinnati guy and he's got a lot of talent.
We would not take a guy at this late date if he couldn't help us. When you watch him on film, he looks like (an impact player). He catches the ball very well over the middle. We hope he is that type of player. You never know until they get here, but he was one of the top players in the Pittsburgh area last year.
Our guys have worked hard this spring and we have had good competition at a lot of positions. I have been pleased with our effort most of the time, yet I know we need to get better in a lot of areas, too. I am looking forward to who comes out ready to play and compete on Saturday, and who plays with toughness and who plays fast.
He certainly played well in the fall. He's a guy with a lot of ability - a big, strong guy.
I'm sure they do. We're working. We know where we're at.
It's an extremely great class for us. This year's class builds on our previous two and has established a foundation for us to build championships.
They controlled the line of scrimmage up front. Usually when you're able to do that, you're able to win the football game. It was difficult to run the football.
They look like a team that can play with just about anybody.
They'll have that roar. It gets loud. There will be times when you can't hear. We need to be able to play under those conditions. They're going to have to experience it. We'll put music on (during practice) and play it loud so they can't hear each other, but it's still different.
We're going to ask that people reach out to (Ruffin) and make a donation to the University of Cincinnati Hurricane Katrina effort. We also have Mike Brown, whose family is living on the second floor of their home right now. The first floor is flooded. So let's try to do what we can for our own and help them move forward with their life.
We had three or four wide receivers out. And we had some (passes) dropped. That will make a difference. But the defense played well.
Today will give us a good opportunity to continue evaluating where we are and how we need to get better.