Saban vs Dantonio II Set for Dallas
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - When Michigan State trudged down the field for Saturday night's instantly-historic, 22-play touchdown drive to beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, there was a noteworthy, interested observer watching closely, on a television set, during transit somewhere between Atlanta and Tuscaloosa: Mr. Nick Saban.
"I got to see that 22-play drive last night, and it was pretty awesome," Saban said, during Sunday night's Cotton Bowl teleconference, featuring the two head coaches who will square off in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 31 in Dallas.
"I was rooting for the Spartans after being there for 10 years myself and rooting for my former assistant Mark (Dantonio)," said Saban, Alabama's head coach. "And glad they came out on top."
Because of that victory, No. 3-ranked Michigan State (12-1) will face No. 2 Alabama (12-1) in the CFP semifinals on Dec. 31.
No. 1 Clemson (13-0) will play No. 4 Oklahoma (11-1) in the other semifinal.
Those match-ups were announced on Sunday.
The winners will face one another in the National Championship Game, on Monday, Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz.
Saban, during his coaching debut at Michigan State in 1995.
Saban served as head coach at Michigan State from 1995-99, leaving prior to the Spartans' Citrus Bowl game in December of 1999 for the head coaching job at LSU.
Saban worked as defensive coordinator forGeorge Perles from 1983-87, constituting his first five years of experience in East Lansing.
When Saban became head coach at Michigan State in 1995, he hired Dantonio to be his defensive backs coach. Dantonio held that post until he left MSU following the 2000 season to become defensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Sunday's teleconference served as a reunion of sorts for the two men, who are similar personality types in terms of their laser-sharp organizational skills and dead seriousness about football. On a personal level, they are different. Dantonio is a calm, listening-ear type of hugger, a giver who motivates by showing players and subordinates he cares. The bombastic Saban motivates as a tyrant, telling players that he'll treat them like men if and when they act like men. Both have been wildly successful.
Saban has won four National Championships at tail-wags-dog Southeastern Conference football factories. Dantonio has won at previously-underachieving Michigan State, a program Saban said on his way out the door "would always be number two" to in-state rival Michigan.
Saban offered Dantonio and all of his MSU assistant coaches jobs at LSU in December of 1999, if they wanted to come with him. None of them did. LSU's charter plane that was scheduled to bring his MSU assistants to Baton Route left the Lansing airport with nothing but pilots and empty passenger seats.
Saban during his last press briefing at MSU, after announcing his departure.
Saban came down with a case of cold feet and called MSU officials during a flight from Lansing to Baton Rouge, inquiring if he could get his MSU job back, shortly after accepting the LSU post. But the door had been closed. Saban landed in LSU and went on to win without his former staff members. But he left bruised feelings behind him in East Lansing.
Dantonio has done well, too. And Dantonio has remained respectful of Saban, restating during Sunday's teleconference that he wouldn't be where he is without Saban.
"The relationship between he and I is one to me as a mentor," Dantonio said. "He's a guy that I've called on occasion when I could help or when he could help me in any way. And I have great respect for him and his family and what he's been able to accomplish."
A Rising Tide
Dantonio is 87-32 in nine seasons at Michigan State. This year, Dantonio became the first coach in Big Ten history to win at least 11 games in five of six seasons. Dantonio is 38-4 in his last 42 games, including six straight post-season wins. He is 7-1 in his last eight games against Top 10 teams.
Saban, during his introductory press conference at LSU, later that day.
Michigan State had failed to earn a bowl bid in five of the previous seven seasons prior to Dantonio's hiring. Dantonio has engineered one of the greatest turnarounds college football has seen in the past 30 years. A National Championship would cement his place in not only MSU history, but college football history.
This year's Cotton Bowl will mark the second time Saban has coached against Dantonio. The two met in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, with Saban's defending National Champions defeating MSU 49-7.
Saban has faced former assistants several times, including last weekends SEC Championship Game against former Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, who is now head coach at Florida. But Saban has never faced a former assistant who is as accomplished as Dantonio is now.
"It always makes me proud and happy for the guys that did a great job for us when they were part of our staff and they go on and move on and have success other places," Saban said.
Saban was 34-24-1 in five seasons at Michigan State. He was 0-3 in bowl games, losing by 19, 38 and 28 points in his three postseason appearances as MSU's head coach in the Independence Bowl, Sun Bowl and Aloha Bowl to LSU, Stanford and Washington.
Saban was asked on Sunday evening if Dantonio's level of success could have been attained in East Lansing when Saban was head coach.
"Well, when I was there, it was a difficult time for Michigan State," Saban said. "I took the job and we were on probation and didn't really have the number of scholarships until the last year we were there. And we certainly had a good team that year. Probably not as good as Mark's teams have been the last couple three years.
"But I think he's done a phenomenal job there, and I think as well as anybody could be expected to win the Big Ten championships that he's won. And to have the kind of consistency and performance they've had over the last few years is pretty phenomenal, but not surprising to me. So I think, you know, Mark has exceeded expectations of all of us in terms of what he's done at Michigan State and certainly done a better job than I ever did there. I can tell you that."
Brutally Effective
Saban's Alabama team was brutally effective against Michigan State in 2011. Saban even seemed to attempt to keep the score down with inside running plays in the fourth quarter.
Saban, at bowl practice prior to the 2011 Capital One Bowl against Michigan State.
"I'm not the kind of guy that has to dislike my opponent to play well against him," Saban said. "Sometimes respect is a better word. And when you know somebody is a really good coach and has done a great job for you, it's really easy to respect them. And that's certainly the case in this game."
The two coaches heard each others' voices over the phone during Sunday's teleconference. Although they are friends, they aren't ones to reach out and touch each other with frequent phone calls.
Following the teleconference, Dantonio was asked by local media whether it's a bit of a trip to hear his old boss's grumpy voice on the other end of a telephone.
"Oh, yeah, it takes me back," Dantonio said with a laugh. "I was Nick's secondary coach for five years, so I learned a tremendous amount of football: Organization, preparation. So much of what we do in terms of preparation - in terms of technique and terminology and my mindset as a football coach - has been shaped by the people I've worked for. Certainly Jim Tressel I've talked about a lot, but Nick Saban is probably the guy from a defensive system, and then also from just an overall football system, that has been a mentor."
Saban demands that his players are physical, tough and knowledgeable. Dantonio has instilled the same commandments at modern day Michigan State.
"Those are the three things that he (Saban) constantly preached, the three things that took no ability, and those are the three characteristics that I constantly talk to our players," Dantonio said. "You want to be able to run the ball, power run, you want to be physical, you want to be tough. You need to have great knowledge of what you do."
And, as Saban says, there is often some ugly roadkill along the way.
"There are challenges," Dantonio said. "A lot of what I learned when I was here, and let's not be … it was difficult. It's difficult. You guys know that. But I think my relationship with Coach Saban, with Nick Saban, is excellent. He's truly a mentor of mine. I would not be in this position as a head coach had I not been afforded the opportunity to come to Michigan State by Nick."
Precious few of Saban's former players at Michigan State have kept in touch with him during his coaching stops with LSU, the Miami Dolphins and the University of Alabama. He's not easily-approachable. But Saban is fond of his former assistant.
"I consider Mark a friend," Saban said. "But I think in this profession, we're all sort of bigamists in some degree in terms of we're married and we have children and we have grandchildren, but we're also married to our job. So I know Mark is (married to his job), and I think you have to be to really have success because you have a lot of young men that you've got to provide leadership for. And Mark has certainly done a great job of that.
"And we stay in contact and talk every now and then. But like I am with a lot of the guys, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and consider them friends, but it's not like we talk on the phone every week because I don't think any of us really have time for that. But there's sort of a respect and admiration that you have for colleagues that have done a great job for you and you recognize by how their team plays what a great job they're doing now."
That includes his admiration for Saturday night's epic final drive.
"They certainly were on during that drive because Iowa, I know, has got a really good defensive team, and they're very well-coached," Saban said. "Coach Ferentz does an outstanding job as does Phil Parker, one of our former players (at MSU) as defensive coordinator.
"I think it showed a lot about the grit that Michigan State's team has and the resiliency that they played with on that drive to convert third downs, make plays when they needed to make them.
"They had a big physical back, and they got a physical offensive line. And that's the way we try to play, and that's the way they try to play. And that's the kind of football that a lot of people enjoy watching. So it's going to be a great matchup from that standpoint."
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - When Michigan State trudged down the field for Saturday night's instantly-historic, 22-play touchdown drive to beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, there was a noteworthy, interested observer watching closely, on a television set, during transit somewhere between Atlanta and Tuscaloosa: Mr. Nick Saban.
"I got to see that 22-play drive last night, and it was pretty awesome," Saban said, during Sunday night's Cotton Bowl teleconference, featuring the two head coaches who will square off in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 31 in Dallas.
"I was rooting for the Spartans after being there for 10 years myself and rooting for my former assistant Mark (Dantonio)," said Saban, Alabama's head coach. "And glad they came out on top."
Because of that victory, No. 3-ranked Michigan State (12-1) will face No. 2 Alabama (12-1) in the CFP semifinals on Dec. 31.
No. 1 Clemson (13-0) will play No. 4 Oklahoma (11-1) in the other semifinal.
Those match-ups were announced on Sunday.
The winners will face one another in the National Championship Game, on Monday, Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz.
Saban, during his coaching debut at Michigan State in 1995.
Saban served as head coach at Michigan State from 1995-99, leaving prior to the Spartans' Citrus Bowl game in December of 1999 for the head coaching job at LSU.
Saban worked as defensive coordinator forGeorge Perles from 1983-87, constituting his first five years of experience in East Lansing.
When Saban became head coach at Michigan State in 1995, he hired Dantonio to be his defensive backs coach. Dantonio held that post until he left MSU following the 2000 season to become defensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Sunday's teleconference served as a reunion of sorts for the two men, who are similar personality types in terms of their laser-sharp organizational skills and dead seriousness about football. On a personal level, they are different. Dantonio is a calm, listening-ear type of hugger, a giver who motivates by showing players and subordinates he cares. The bombastic Saban motivates as a tyrant, telling players that he'll treat them like men if and when they act like men. Both have been wildly successful.
Saban has won four National Championships at tail-wags-dog Southeastern Conference football factories. Dantonio has won at previously-underachieving Michigan State, a program Saban said on his way out the door "would always be number two" to in-state rival Michigan.
Saban offered Dantonio and all of his MSU assistant coaches jobs at LSU in December of 1999, if they wanted to come with him. None of them did. LSU's charter plane that was scheduled to bring his MSU assistants to Baton Route left the Lansing airport with nothing but pilots and empty passenger seats.
Saban during his last press briefing at MSU, after announcing his departure.
Saban came down with a case of cold feet and called MSU officials during a flight from Lansing to Baton Rouge, inquiring if he could get his MSU job back, shortly after accepting the LSU post. But the door had been closed. Saban landed in LSU and went on to win without his former staff members. But he left bruised feelings behind him in East Lansing.
Dantonio has done well, too. And Dantonio has remained respectful of Saban, restating during Sunday's teleconference that he wouldn't be where he is without Saban.
"The relationship between he and I is one to me as a mentor," Dantonio said. "He's a guy that I've called on occasion when I could help or when he could help me in any way. And I have great respect for him and his family and what he's been able to accomplish."
A Rising Tide
Dantonio is 87-32 in nine seasons at Michigan State. This year, Dantonio became the first coach in Big Ten history to win at least 11 games in five of six seasons. Dantonio is 38-4 in his last 42 games, including six straight post-season wins. He is 7-1 in his last eight games against Top 10 teams.
Saban, during his introductory press conference at LSU, later that day.
Michigan State had failed to earn a bowl bid in five of the previous seven seasons prior to Dantonio's hiring. Dantonio has engineered one of the greatest turnarounds college football has seen in the past 30 years. A National Championship would cement his place in not only MSU history, but college football history.
This year's Cotton Bowl will mark the second time Saban has coached against Dantonio. The two met in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, with Saban's defending National Champions defeating MSU 49-7.
Saban has faced former assistants several times, including last weekends SEC Championship Game against former Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, who is now head coach at Florida. But Saban has never faced a former assistant who is as accomplished as Dantonio is now.
"It always makes me proud and happy for the guys that did a great job for us when they were part of our staff and they go on and move on and have success other places," Saban said.
Saban was 34-24-1 in five seasons at Michigan State. He was 0-3 in bowl games, losing by 19, 38 and 28 points in his three postseason appearances as MSU's head coach in the Independence Bowl, Sun Bowl and Aloha Bowl to LSU, Stanford and Washington.
Saban was asked on Sunday evening if Dantonio's level of success could have been attained in East Lansing when Saban was head coach.
"Well, when I was there, it was a difficult time for Michigan State," Saban said. "I took the job and we were on probation and didn't really have the number of scholarships until the last year we were there. And we certainly had a good team that year. Probably not as good as Mark's teams have been the last couple three years.
"But I think he's done a phenomenal job there, and I think as well as anybody could be expected to win the Big Ten championships that he's won. And to have the kind of consistency and performance they've had over the last few years is pretty phenomenal, but not surprising to me. So I think, you know, Mark has exceeded expectations of all of us in terms of what he's done at Michigan State and certainly done a better job than I ever did there. I can tell you that."
Brutally Effective
Saban's Alabama team was brutally effective against Michigan State in 2011. Saban even seemed to attempt to keep the score down with inside running plays in the fourth quarter.
Saban, at bowl practice prior to the 2011 Capital One Bowl against Michigan State.
"I'm not the kind of guy that has to dislike my opponent to play well against him," Saban said. "Sometimes respect is a better word. And when you know somebody is a really good coach and has done a great job for you, it's really easy to respect them. And that's certainly the case in this game."
The two coaches heard each others' voices over the phone during Sunday's teleconference. Although they are friends, they aren't ones to reach out and touch each other with frequent phone calls.
Following the teleconference, Dantonio was asked by local media whether it's a bit of a trip to hear his old boss's grumpy voice on the other end of a telephone.
"Oh, yeah, it takes me back," Dantonio said with a laugh. "I was Nick's secondary coach for five years, so I learned a tremendous amount of football: Organization, preparation. So much of what we do in terms of preparation - in terms of technique and terminology and my mindset as a football coach - has been shaped by the people I've worked for. Certainly Jim Tressel I've talked about a lot, but Nick Saban is probably the guy from a defensive system, and then also from just an overall football system, that has been a mentor."
Saban demands that his players are physical, tough and knowledgeable. Dantonio has instilled the same commandments at modern day Michigan State.
"Those are the three things that he (Saban) constantly preached, the three things that took no ability, and those are the three characteristics that I constantly talk to our players," Dantonio said. "You want to be able to run the ball, power run, you want to be physical, you want to be tough. You need to have great knowledge of what you do."
And, as Saban says, there is often some ugly roadkill along the way.
"There are challenges," Dantonio said. "A lot of what I learned when I was here, and let's not be … it was difficult. It's difficult. You guys know that. But I think my relationship with Coach Saban, with Nick Saban, is excellent. He's truly a mentor of mine. I would not be in this position as a head coach had I not been afforded the opportunity to come to Michigan State by Nick."
Precious few of Saban's former players at Michigan State have kept in touch with him during his coaching stops with LSU, the Miami Dolphins and the University of Alabama. He's not easily-approachable. But Saban is fond of his former assistant.
"I consider Mark a friend," Saban said. "But I think in this profession, we're all sort of bigamists in some degree in terms of we're married and we have children and we have grandchildren, but we're also married to our job. So I know Mark is (married to his job), and I think you have to be to really have success because you have a lot of young men that you've got to provide leadership for. And Mark has certainly done a great job of that.
"And we stay in contact and talk every now and then. But like I am with a lot of the guys, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and consider them friends, but it's not like we talk on the phone every week because I don't think any of us really have time for that. But there's sort of a respect and admiration that you have for colleagues that have done a great job for you and you recognize by how their team plays what a great job they're doing now."
That includes his admiration for Saturday night's epic final drive.
"They certainly were on during that drive because Iowa, I know, has got a really good defensive team, and they're very well-coached," Saban said. "Coach Ferentz does an outstanding job as does Phil Parker, one of our former players (at MSU) as defensive coordinator.
"I think it showed a lot about the grit that Michigan State's team has and the resiliency that they played with on that drive to convert third downs, make plays when they needed to make them.
"They had a big physical back, and they got a physical offensive line. And that's the way we try to play, and that's the way they try to play. And that's the kind of football that a lot of people enjoy watching. So it's going to be a great matchup from that standpoint."
