A review of what Dantonio had to say earlier today:
NOTEBOOK: Dantonio issues Back to Back mantra for 2016
Jim Comparoni | Editor
CHICAGO - When Mark Dantonio took the podium at Big Ten Media Days, Tuesday at McCormick Place, he briefly made a statement about former punter Mike Sadler, a four-time Academic All-American who was killed in a car accident, Saturday night.
“What occurred on Saturday is very tragic,” Dantonio said. “In regards to Mike, he was a giver. There was no take in Mike Sadler. He lived life. He made everyone’s life around him better and we will miss him terribly.”
With that said, Dantonio then moved to the business of the day, which is to talk about the Spartan football program and preview the 2016 season.
“Back to football,” Dantonio said, still in a somber tone. “I think we’ve built a culture at Michigan State. We are 36-5 in the last three years, 24-2 in the Big Ten Conference.”
Then he moved on, methodically, to attempt to put a monicker on the upcoming season, as he has done in the past with “Reach Higher” in 2015, “It Starts Here” in 2014 and “Chase It” in 2013.
“We have sort of set the table in terms of what we have to do every year, so right now our focus is to try and go ‘Back to Back,’” Dantonio said.
Dantonio’s mantra understandably lacked the punch in delivery that he has had in the past. But he spoke with conviction when discussing some of Michigan State’s strengths for 2016, including talent at linebacker, running back and a surprising nod to Spartan experience.
MORE THAN 10 RETURNING STARTERS?
Michigan State is generally regarded as having only 10 returning starters from last year’s Big Ten Championship/College Football Playoff team, but Dantonio put a different spin on those numbers, Tuesday.
“We've lost some good players but I think we have 31 players back with some type of starting experience,” Dantonio said.
Dantonio’s definition of “starting experience” differs from others. For instance, sixth-year senior Brandon Clemons was utilized as part of the six-man jumbo blocking unit last year. He was a starter in Dantonio’s estimation for that particular personnel group, although he has never started a game for the Spartans.
“We have like 15 on offense, and like 13 or 14 or so on defense that we would consider starters,” Dantonio said.
Clemons is listed as a co-first string right guard for the Spartans heading into August camp.
Defensive backs Khari Willis, Grayson Miller, Vayante Copeland, Darian Hicks,linebacker Ed Davis, quarterback Tyler O’Connor, left tackle Dennis Finley, wide receiver R.J. Shelton and tight end Jamal Lyles are nine players, in addition to the 10 conventional returning starters, who have started games at some point for the Spartans.
Dantonio said. “We've lost some good players but we've got a lot of good football players coming back. I think we have seven guys coming back in the secondary who started for us that are very athletic. And our guys expect to win.
“We lose good players every year, just like every other program. But it seems that when the time comes, our seniors have their best years. You look at Aaron Burbridge last year, having his best year as a senior, catching 85 passes or whatever it was. And the year before that, Tony Lippett. You look at what Connor Cook was able to do.
“We've got guys poised for that. We've established a culture. We've had great recruiting classes and built those classes on top of each other.”
‘CATAPULT’ SEASON FOR McDOWELL?
Dantonio selected three senior players to join him in Chicago for Media Days press obligations. Linebacker Riley Bullough, wide receiver RJ Shelton and tight end Josiah Price met with media Tuesday afternoon.
Michigan State’s most-decorated player in terms of preseason hype and praise, is junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell. He is ranked among the Top 40 players in the country by SI.com and is a popular choice for All-America candidacy in the national preview publications.
“Malik is a playmaker, no question about that,” Dantonio said, Tuesday. “He's big, athletic, physical. He comes to play every game.
“And with all that being said he's only going to be a true junior.”
McDowell (6-6, 274, Detroit/Southfield High) ranked second not he team in TFLs last year with 13, and had 4.5 sacks at the nose tackle position. He was named second-team All-Big Ten by coaches and media.
“He had a big sophomore season last year, and played some as a freshman,” Dantonio said. “I think that this is the year that sort of catapults him.”
McDowell told SpartanMag.com correspondent Rico Beard that he is 15 pounds lighter than his 2015 playing weight. McDowell’s slimmer posture, and presumed improved quickness, should make him more versatile in adapting to the coaches’ plans to move him out to defense end at times in 2016.
“He's got to have a great year and I think he's poised to do that,” Dantonio said. “I think we also have some other great defensive players on our football team that we can build around. Ed Davis working for his sixth year. Riley Bullough. Guys all over the place.”
‘DEPTH CHARTS ARE DEPTH CHARTS’
Junior linebacker Chris Frey is among those that Dantonio regards as a starter, despite the fact that Frey has never started.
Frey is listed as a second-string Sam linebacker. He can also play ‘star’ linebacker.
“Depth charts are depth charts,” Dantonio said. “It's a starting point. We're very deep at the linebacker position.”
Bullough and junior Jon Reschke are listed as starting Mike and Sam linebackers. Sophomore Andrew Dowell is No. 1 at ‘star’ linebacker heading into August camp, according to Monday’s depth chart.
Frey (6-2, 222, Jr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) had 23 tackles and five TFLs last year. He saw extensive action as a second-stringer and was on the nickel defense first unit.
“He plays multiple positions,” Dantonio said. “As far as I'm concerned, Chris Frey is a starter as well. Ed Davis can be thrown into that. We have what I consider five starters. Shane Jones is another guy I think can go in there and start. Byron Bullough is another guy that had an outstanding spring.”
ED DAVIS UPDATE
Ed Davis (6-3, 225, Detrot) is making progress toward a possible sixth year of eligibility, Dantonio said on Tuesday.
“He has to graduate to do that,” Dantonio said. “He's currently in a class to do that and doing well.”
Davis started 12 games at Sam linebacker for Michigan State in 2014. He missed last season with a knee injury which he sustained during training camp.
After graduating later this summer, Davis will officially petition for a sixth year of eligibility, making up for the year he lost in 2015.
Davis was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by coaches and media after ranking fourth on the team with 58 tackles. He and seven sacks and 12 TFLs, ranking third on the team in both categories.
“He's a phenomenal football player,” Dantonio said.
SPOILED YOUNG PLAYERS?
Eighty-nine of the 100 returning players listed on Michigan State’s roster have known nothing but 11-win seasons as Spartans.
Only 10 fifth-year seniors were around for the 7-6 season of 2012.
Dantonio says there are positives associated with those numbers, but also some hurdles.
“There's an expectation to win and the confidence is there to win,” Dantonio said. “When we come down the line at the end of a football game and there was an opportunity to win, our players know how to win. So when the game has been close we found a way. Won a lot of close football games.
“With that being said, we've got some guys that should be on first (base) but have been born on third. In other words, they've they've experienced all the good but they haven't seen too much of the difficult. So we've got to get those guys primed, our younger players. All they've seen is the last three years of what we've been able to accomplish. Our fifth-year seniors they've seen some other things.”
Those fifth-year seniors include linebacker Riley Bullough, offensive lineman Kodi Kieler, offensive lineman Benny McGowan, safety Demetrious Cox, defensive end Evan Jones - each of whom are projected starters. They redshirted in 2012 while the Spartans dropped back from a pair of 11-win seasons in 2009 and 2010, and struggled to a 7-6 season, which included a comeback win over TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
“I think you have to be able to handle the bad times as well as the good,” Dantonio said. “You've got to be able to gear yourself up and understand that these things aren't a given; that you've got to play and you've got to work hard to be able to gain credibility and to win, win football games. So that's our expectation and that's what we'll do.”
‘GET OVER IT’
In winning 12 games, a Big Ten Championship Game title, and a top-four finish in the regular season, the Spartans arguably enjoyed their most accomplished season since 1966. But it ended with a 38-0 loss to eventual National Champion Alabama in the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl.
Dantonio was asked on Tuesday what his message has been to his team in the aftermath of that experience.
“That game sort of got out of hand,” Dantonio said. “My wife tells me, ‘Get over it.’ She says, ‘Get over it, you lost.’ But I thought it was a competitive game in the first half.
“But what I said to our football team is, ‘Hey, we've gone this far, but there's still a ways we have to go. Don't hang your head. Let's get on with business. Life's full of ups and downs. There's going to be down times.’ To me it's how you handle the down times that define you.”
The loss broke a string of four straight bowl wins for the Spartans, including the 2011 Capital One Bowl, the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, the 2014 Rose Bowl, and the 2015 Cotton Bowl.
“It's easy to walk around when you've won,” Dantonio said. “(It’s) more difficult when you've had a loss and you have to regain your composure and you have to move forward with the process.
“So Michigan State's always been about the process. This is just a stepping stone. That was a step back down the staircase. Time to take another step up.”
THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE
Dantonio continued his spring stance of refraining from pinpointing O’Connor as the clear-cut starting QB in waiting.
“Tyler obviously is in the lead right now, but I'm not going to have the pressure put on one position to say this is the make or break guy,” Dantonio said. “I think that's the thing to do right now - not dependent on one guy. Not to say, ‘Hey, he's our guy.’ That will be defined through August camp and early in the season.”
O’Connor and junior Damion Terry are officially listed as either/or starters at QB in this week’s official depth chart.
O’Connor started ahead of Terry during Michigan State’s upset at Ohio State last year. He also out-played Terry in the Green-White Game in April. But the head coach indicated that both players would see extended playing time in September, as was the case in 2013 when Connor Cook and Andrew Maxwell dueled for the job while O’Connor received a handful of snaps as well.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on our quarterback position and on our quarterback coach, Brad Salem,” Dantonio said. “We're going to give people opportunities.
“We lost a lot of experience, obviously, but I think quarterback is a very talented position (for us). We've got four guys that I think are Big Ten-type quarterbacks that are big, athletic guys that can move, run, and also can throw the football. Tyler O'Connor is a fifth-year senior. He's been in the system four years, been behind a great quarterback. He's been waiting his opportunity. Performed very well down in Columbus last year.
“And Damion Terry, 6'4", 235, very athletic. Brian Lewerke, very talented, he was a redshirt freshman this year. And Messiah deWeaver is a true freshman that was here this semester. All four of those guys have great ability.”
NEGATIVE RECRUITING?
Dantonio and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer were asked about claims that Penn State head coach James Franklin had accused Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State of negative recruiting.
In a Q&A with the Reading Eagle newspaper, Franklin is quoted as saying, in regard to recent allegations at former Penn State coach Joe Paterno knew about Jerry Sandusky’s abuse of children as early as the 1970s, that competing schools were making the subject an issue with his players.
“Other schools are contacting them and telling them the NCAA is going to get involved again and impose more sanctions,” Franklin said in the Q&A. “As Penn Staters, we're so proud and we know what we're all about and who we are. The people we're competing with - Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame - this is just not something they have to deal with. Although we want to move on, those other schools are not letting us move on.”
When Dantonio was asked about Michigan State being accused of “negative recruiting” against Penn State on Tuesday, Dantonio said:
“From my standpoint, I have not said anything negative about Penn State, and hopefully our coaches have not as well. I was surprised to read that. I don't know what happens out there on the road completely. But it's not our MO. And that's not how we do business.”
Meyer said he was unaware of the comments.
"That's the first I've heard of it,” Meyer said. “I’ll address that with Coach Franklin, if that is an issue. That has not been presented to me until this moment."
Meyer said, "we do just fine in recruiting to not worry about that stuff. If that's true, I will address it."
NOTEBOOK: Dantonio issues Back to Back mantra for 2016
Jim Comparoni | Editor
CHICAGO - When Mark Dantonio took the podium at Big Ten Media Days, Tuesday at McCormick Place, he briefly made a statement about former punter Mike Sadler, a four-time Academic All-American who was killed in a car accident, Saturday night.
“What occurred on Saturday is very tragic,” Dantonio said. “In regards to Mike, he was a giver. There was no take in Mike Sadler. He lived life. He made everyone’s life around him better and we will miss him terribly.”
With that said, Dantonio then moved to the business of the day, which is to talk about the Spartan football program and preview the 2016 season.
“Back to football,” Dantonio said, still in a somber tone. “I think we’ve built a culture at Michigan State. We are 36-5 in the last three years, 24-2 in the Big Ten Conference.”
Then he moved on, methodically, to attempt to put a monicker on the upcoming season, as he has done in the past with “Reach Higher” in 2015, “It Starts Here” in 2014 and “Chase It” in 2013.
“We have sort of set the table in terms of what we have to do every year, so right now our focus is to try and go ‘Back to Back,’” Dantonio said.
Dantonio’s mantra understandably lacked the punch in delivery that he has had in the past. But he spoke with conviction when discussing some of Michigan State’s strengths for 2016, including talent at linebacker, running back and a surprising nod to Spartan experience.
MORE THAN 10 RETURNING STARTERS?
Michigan State is generally regarded as having only 10 returning starters from last year’s Big Ten Championship/College Football Playoff team, but Dantonio put a different spin on those numbers, Tuesday.
“We've lost some good players but I think we have 31 players back with some type of starting experience,” Dantonio said.
Dantonio’s definition of “starting experience” differs from others. For instance, sixth-year senior Brandon Clemons was utilized as part of the six-man jumbo blocking unit last year. He was a starter in Dantonio’s estimation for that particular personnel group, although he has never started a game for the Spartans.
“We have like 15 on offense, and like 13 or 14 or so on defense that we would consider starters,” Dantonio said.
Clemons is listed as a co-first string right guard for the Spartans heading into August camp.
Defensive backs Khari Willis, Grayson Miller, Vayante Copeland, Darian Hicks,linebacker Ed Davis, quarterback Tyler O’Connor, left tackle Dennis Finley, wide receiver R.J. Shelton and tight end Jamal Lyles are nine players, in addition to the 10 conventional returning starters, who have started games at some point for the Spartans.
Dantonio said. “We've lost some good players but we've got a lot of good football players coming back. I think we have seven guys coming back in the secondary who started for us that are very athletic. And our guys expect to win.
“We lose good players every year, just like every other program. But it seems that when the time comes, our seniors have their best years. You look at Aaron Burbridge last year, having his best year as a senior, catching 85 passes or whatever it was. And the year before that, Tony Lippett. You look at what Connor Cook was able to do.
“We've got guys poised for that. We've established a culture. We've had great recruiting classes and built those classes on top of each other.”
‘CATAPULT’ SEASON FOR McDOWELL?
Dantonio selected three senior players to join him in Chicago for Media Days press obligations. Linebacker Riley Bullough, wide receiver RJ Shelton and tight end Josiah Price met with media Tuesday afternoon.
Michigan State’s most-decorated player in terms of preseason hype and praise, is junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell. He is ranked among the Top 40 players in the country by SI.com and is a popular choice for All-America candidacy in the national preview publications.
“Malik is a playmaker, no question about that,” Dantonio said, Tuesday. “He's big, athletic, physical. He comes to play every game.
“And with all that being said he's only going to be a true junior.”
McDowell (6-6, 274, Detroit/Southfield High) ranked second not he team in TFLs last year with 13, and had 4.5 sacks at the nose tackle position. He was named second-team All-Big Ten by coaches and media.
“He had a big sophomore season last year, and played some as a freshman,” Dantonio said. “I think that this is the year that sort of catapults him.”
McDowell told SpartanMag.com correspondent Rico Beard that he is 15 pounds lighter than his 2015 playing weight. McDowell’s slimmer posture, and presumed improved quickness, should make him more versatile in adapting to the coaches’ plans to move him out to defense end at times in 2016.
“He's got to have a great year and I think he's poised to do that,” Dantonio said. “I think we also have some other great defensive players on our football team that we can build around. Ed Davis working for his sixth year. Riley Bullough. Guys all over the place.”
‘DEPTH CHARTS ARE DEPTH CHARTS’
Junior linebacker Chris Frey is among those that Dantonio regards as a starter, despite the fact that Frey has never started.
Frey is listed as a second-string Sam linebacker. He can also play ‘star’ linebacker.
“Depth charts are depth charts,” Dantonio said. “It's a starting point. We're very deep at the linebacker position.”
Bullough and junior Jon Reschke are listed as starting Mike and Sam linebackers. Sophomore Andrew Dowell is No. 1 at ‘star’ linebacker heading into August camp, according to Monday’s depth chart.
Frey (6-2, 222, Jr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) had 23 tackles and five TFLs last year. He saw extensive action as a second-stringer and was on the nickel defense first unit.
“He plays multiple positions,” Dantonio said. “As far as I'm concerned, Chris Frey is a starter as well. Ed Davis can be thrown into that. We have what I consider five starters. Shane Jones is another guy I think can go in there and start. Byron Bullough is another guy that had an outstanding spring.”
ED DAVIS UPDATE
Ed Davis (6-3, 225, Detrot) is making progress toward a possible sixth year of eligibility, Dantonio said on Tuesday.
“He has to graduate to do that,” Dantonio said. “He's currently in a class to do that and doing well.”
Davis started 12 games at Sam linebacker for Michigan State in 2014. He missed last season with a knee injury which he sustained during training camp.
After graduating later this summer, Davis will officially petition for a sixth year of eligibility, making up for the year he lost in 2015.
Davis was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by coaches and media after ranking fourth on the team with 58 tackles. He and seven sacks and 12 TFLs, ranking third on the team in both categories.
“He's a phenomenal football player,” Dantonio said.
SPOILED YOUNG PLAYERS?
Eighty-nine of the 100 returning players listed on Michigan State’s roster have known nothing but 11-win seasons as Spartans.
Only 10 fifth-year seniors were around for the 7-6 season of 2012.
Dantonio says there are positives associated with those numbers, but also some hurdles.
“There's an expectation to win and the confidence is there to win,” Dantonio said. “When we come down the line at the end of a football game and there was an opportunity to win, our players know how to win. So when the game has been close we found a way. Won a lot of close football games.
“With that being said, we've got some guys that should be on first (base) but have been born on third. In other words, they've they've experienced all the good but they haven't seen too much of the difficult. So we've got to get those guys primed, our younger players. All they've seen is the last three years of what we've been able to accomplish. Our fifth-year seniors they've seen some other things.”
Those fifth-year seniors include linebacker Riley Bullough, offensive lineman Kodi Kieler, offensive lineman Benny McGowan, safety Demetrious Cox, defensive end Evan Jones - each of whom are projected starters. They redshirted in 2012 while the Spartans dropped back from a pair of 11-win seasons in 2009 and 2010, and struggled to a 7-6 season, which included a comeback win over TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
“I think you have to be able to handle the bad times as well as the good,” Dantonio said. “You've got to be able to gear yourself up and understand that these things aren't a given; that you've got to play and you've got to work hard to be able to gain credibility and to win, win football games. So that's our expectation and that's what we'll do.”
‘GET OVER IT’
In winning 12 games, a Big Ten Championship Game title, and a top-four finish in the regular season, the Spartans arguably enjoyed their most accomplished season since 1966. But it ended with a 38-0 loss to eventual National Champion Alabama in the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl.
Dantonio was asked on Tuesday what his message has been to his team in the aftermath of that experience.
“That game sort of got out of hand,” Dantonio said. “My wife tells me, ‘Get over it.’ She says, ‘Get over it, you lost.’ But I thought it was a competitive game in the first half.
“But what I said to our football team is, ‘Hey, we've gone this far, but there's still a ways we have to go. Don't hang your head. Let's get on with business. Life's full of ups and downs. There's going to be down times.’ To me it's how you handle the down times that define you.”
The loss broke a string of four straight bowl wins for the Spartans, including the 2011 Capital One Bowl, the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, the 2014 Rose Bowl, and the 2015 Cotton Bowl.
“It's easy to walk around when you've won,” Dantonio said. “(It’s) more difficult when you've had a loss and you have to regain your composure and you have to move forward with the process.
“So Michigan State's always been about the process. This is just a stepping stone. That was a step back down the staircase. Time to take another step up.”
THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE
Dantonio continued his spring stance of refraining from pinpointing O’Connor as the clear-cut starting QB in waiting.
“Tyler obviously is in the lead right now, but I'm not going to have the pressure put on one position to say this is the make or break guy,” Dantonio said. “I think that's the thing to do right now - not dependent on one guy. Not to say, ‘Hey, he's our guy.’ That will be defined through August camp and early in the season.”
O’Connor and junior Damion Terry are officially listed as either/or starters at QB in this week’s official depth chart.
O’Connor started ahead of Terry during Michigan State’s upset at Ohio State last year. He also out-played Terry in the Green-White Game in April. But the head coach indicated that both players would see extended playing time in September, as was the case in 2013 when Connor Cook and Andrew Maxwell dueled for the job while O’Connor received a handful of snaps as well.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on our quarterback position and on our quarterback coach, Brad Salem,” Dantonio said. “We're going to give people opportunities.
“We lost a lot of experience, obviously, but I think quarterback is a very talented position (for us). We've got four guys that I think are Big Ten-type quarterbacks that are big, athletic guys that can move, run, and also can throw the football. Tyler O'Connor is a fifth-year senior. He's been in the system four years, been behind a great quarterback. He's been waiting his opportunity. Performed very well down in Columbus last year.
“And Damion Terry, 6'4", 235, very athletic. Brian Lewerke, very talented, he was a redshirt freshman this year. And Messiah deWeaver is a true freshman that was here this semester. All four of those guys have great ability.”
NEGATIVE RECRUITING?
Dantonio and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer were asked about claims that Penn State head coach James Franklin had accused Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State of negative recruiting.
In a Q&A with the Reading Eagle newspaper, Franklin is quoted as saying, in regard to recent allegations at former Penn State coach Joe Paterno knew about Jerry Sandusky’s abuse of children as early as the 1970s, that competing schools were making the subject an issue with his players.
“Other schools are contacting them and telling them the NCAA is going to get involved again and impose more sanctions,” Franklin said in the Q&A. “As Penn Staters, we're so proud and we know what we're all about and who we are. The people we're competing with - Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame - this is just not something they have to deal with. Although we want to move on, those other schools are not letting us move on.”
When Dantonio was asked about Michigan State being accused of “negative recruiting” against Penn State on Tuesday, Dantonio said:
“From my standpoint, I have not said anything negative about Penn State, and hopefully our coaches have not as well. I was surprised to read that. I don't know what happens out there on the road completely. But it's not our MO. And that's not how we do business.”
Meyer said he was unaware of the comments.
"That's the first I've heard of it,” Meyer said. “I’ll address that with Coach Franklin, if that is an issue. That has not been presented to me until this moment."
Meyer said, "we do just fine in recruiting to not worry about that stuff. If that's true, I will address it."
