Posted by Spartans, on June 24th, 2009

Bio of head coach Mark Dantonio, from the official website of Michigan State Athletics:

Mark Dantonio, who served as head coach at Cincinnati for three seasons and as an assistant coach at Michigan State for six years, became Michigan State University’s 24th head football coach on Nov. 27, 2006.

A Zanesville, Ohio, native with Midwest ties, Dantonio has 26 years of collegiate coaching experience, and coached in his 12th bowl game in the 2009 Capital One Bowl as the Spartans faced Georgia. He has worked for some of the top coaches in the game, including Nick Saban, Jim Tressel and Earle Bruce.

In just two seasons, Dantonio has restored the pride and tradition of Spartan football. He is 16-10 (.615) since taking over the program, securing the most wins by a Spartan head coach in his first two years, and led MSU to its first back-to-back bowl appearances since 1996-97 and its first consecutive winning seasons since 1989-90.

One of 15 semifinalists for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award, Dantonio had his most successful season as a head coach in 2008. Under his leadership, the Spartans went 9-3 in the regular season and compiled a 6-2 record in the Big Ten, the best league mark for the program since 1999. It’s also just the third time since 1966 and 10th overall that Michigan State has won at least nine games in a season. Michigan State defeated five bowl-bound teams, with victories over Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Spartans, who made their eighth New Year’s Day Bowl appearance and their first in nine seasons, finished the season ranked No. 24 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Polls.

Three Michigan State players were named first-team All-Big Ten by the league’s head coaches: senior running back Javon Ringer, senior safety Otis Wiley and sophomore linebacker Greg Jones. The three first-team all-conference selections were the most for the Spartans since five players received first-team honors in 1999. A total of 15 Spartans received All-Big Ten recognition on the first team, second team or honorable mention.

Ringer became MSU’s first All-American since 2004, earning first-team accolades from Walter Camp and the Associated Press. The Doak Walker Award finalist had one of the finest seasons in Spartan history, scoring a school-record 22 touchdowns and rushing for 1,637 yards, which ranked second in the school record books.

In his first season as head coach at Michigan State, Dantonio sparked a three-game turnaround as the Spartans finished the 2007 regular season with a 7-5 record, securing the program’s first bowl bid in four years with a berth against Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Dantonio became just the third first-year coach in Michigan State history to earn a postseason bowl bid, joining Nick Saban (1995 Independence Bowl vs. LSU) and John L. Smith (2003 Alamo Bowl vs. Nebraska).

Michigan State (7-6 overall) produced seven victories despite playing one of the nation’s most demanding schedules, as the Spartans’ 2007 opponents had a combined record of 75-57 (.568) during the regular season. The Spartans went 4-3 in games played against bowl-bound teams in 2007. Michigan State lost six games by a combined total of 31 points, including two in overtime (Northwestern and Iowa). All six games were decided by seven points or less.

Michigan State finished the year strong, winning its final two games of the regular season for the first time since 1999 with victories at Purdue and over Penn State, both bowl-bound teams. Dantonio became the first coach in Spartan history to begin his initial season 4-0, as Michigan State opened the 2007 campaign with wins over UAB, Bowling Green, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. With the 31-14 victory over the Irish, the Spartans became the first opponent to win six-straight games in the 77-year history of Notre Dame Stadium.

In 2007, Michigan State featured one of the Big Ten’s most prolific offensive attacks. The Spartans ranked second in the conference in scoring offense (33.1 points per game), third in rushing offense (198.2 yards per game) and fourth in total offense (416.8 ypg.). Michigan State also was listed among the NCAA’s top 30 in rushing offense (No. 25) and scoring offense (No. 29). The Spartans scored a school single-season record 430 points and produced top 10 single-season totals in six other offensive categories, including total yards (No. 3: 5,418), first downs (No. 4: 266), passing yards (No. 5: 2,842), total yards per game (No. 6: 416.8) and scoring average (No. 6: 33.1 ppg.).

Michigan State also displayed dramatic improvement on the defensive side of the football in 2007. The Spartans ranked fourth in the Big Ten and No. 30 nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 125.9 ypg. Michigan State held four opponents under 50 yards rushing (UAB, Bowling Green, Indiana and Boston College). After finishing eighth in the Big Ten and No. 88 nationally in total defense in 2006, the Spartans improved to fourth in the league and No. 32 in the NCAA, allowing 345.5 ypg. After finishing near the bottom of the conference in tackles for loss (ninth) and sacks (10th) in 2006, Michigan State vaulted to third in the Big Ten in tackles for loss (7.69 per game) and fourth in sacks (3.08).