February 4th, 2020 at 3:16 PM ^
what competent coach would want to walk into that mess of an administration in an area that isn't particularly talent-rich and in a division with michigan, osu, and penn state?
February 4th, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
Jim McElwain will take it
February 4th, 2020 at 4:34 PM ^
i just said competent, not shark-humpingly competent
February 4th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Considering they flushed 4 million dollars down the toilet to let him stick around a few more weeks and simultaneously make it that much harder to replace him this year, that seems unlikely.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
Yes this is real. He just tweeted out a letter and it is now getting picked up at news sites. Dantonio has stepped down.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
Fuck.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
I wanted him to stay at least three more years.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:08 PM ^
This is kind of a unique situation because it seems both fanbases are disappointed he’s not coming back.
Whats the over/under on how much $$ they throw at Narduzzi to take the job?
February 4th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
I'm on a FB group with a bunch of MSU guys. They are glad he is gone and were calling for him to leave two years ago.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
Sample size: “FB group with a bunch of MSU guys”. Thanks.
Why are you in a FB group? Why does it have a bunch of MSU guys in it?
February 4th, 2020 at 5:07 PM ^
I lived in Lansing. There are a lot of UofM and guys from other schools too. Mainly Michigan-MSU trash talking. There are 120 people in it and 70% are MSU.... The dislike for MD is real.
I'm in a B1G one with ~10,000 people. MSU folk there are happy too.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
Sounds awesome
February 4th, 2020 at 3:41 PM ^
Sounds like a great group.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
I think MSU fans have wanted him gone by now. The last four years slowly killed off the goodwill he'd built up and the refusal to fire anyone a year ago was not well received by the fans.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^
All the Sparties here at work are definitely happy about this.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
Hugh Freeze or Art Briles seem like good fits.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
MORK!!!
February 4th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
44-10 forever.
February 4th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
One of the best games we ever saw at The Big House. What a fun day that was!
February 4th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
Hope they don't hire Fickell.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
My guess is that he doesn't want to walk into that mess when he's got a pretty good situation at Cinci. I think Tressel is named the interim.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
Frankly its a pretty lateral move to slide over to MSU. Gonna be a lot harder to win at MSU over the next few years than Cinci
February 4th, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^
It’s not a lateral move (MSU is a better job than Cinci) but the timing here is awful and if Fickell’s goal is something bigger than MSU head coach, staying and winning at Cinci for another year or two will give him a lot of options.
MSU right now has a depleted roster, a shitty recruiting class and signing day is tomorrow. It will take Fickell several years to right the ship and even then he’s at a disadvantage against much of the league. Fickell is 47 this football season. If he flounders at MSU for 3-4 years that’s not great for an up and comer. BUT - if MSU is desperate and throws a bunch of money at him, who knows.
February 4th, 2020 at 7:13 PM ^
I agree MSU is a better job if you ranked FBS top to bottom, but I don't think it makes sense for Fickell because a) it's a decent sized risk for a modest step up and b) Dantonio has left a smoldering crater in East Lansing. If Fickell aspires to move up, he's better off continuing to build at Cincinnati imo rather than spend 5ish years trying to rebuild MSU
February 4th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
Better pray they hire Fickell instead of Robert Saleh. . .Saleh would mop the floor with Harbaugh.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
Saleh has better options, MSU is a dead end right now.
February 4th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
A poster on the 247Sports board broke this news about Dantonio's retirement last week and said that Fickell was going to be the next coach. Considering he was on the mark about Dantonio, I would expect Fickell.
I think it would be a decent hire for MSU as I think Fickell would have better options if he waited a year. But I don't think he will change the fate of the MSU program. MSU is going to be a tough rebuild in the B1G East and having to follow Dantonio will only make it harder with the expectations of their fanbase now.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
My guess is Tressel is the Interim for this year. Too many things piled on. What a perfect ending for a flawed man.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:15 PM ^
I think 'flawed' is being very generous.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Two weeks after cashing in on 4.3M retention bonus.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:54 PM ^
The previous savior, Perles, also jacked the university around for every penny he could get by threatening to go to the NFL each off-season. State is a bag of dicks.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Walking out with his tail between his legs
February 4th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
Spartans: "Shut up Mork, it's over"
February 4th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
I literally just posted on the other thread predicting he will be an Alabama D-coordinator in the near future. Step one of his NCAA/ESPN-produced redemption story is complete.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:15 PM ^
Some credit to ESPN for how they concluded this article (my emphasis):
When asked in the summer of 2017, Dantonio said Blackwell's contract was not renewed due to "philosophical differences." Blackwell believes he was let go so that the football program and university could blame him for a recruiting class that featured four players who were all convicted of crimes related to sexual incidents within their first year on campus. Blackwell says it was Dantonio's decision -- not his -- to bring the most controversial of those players to East Lansing.
An astonishingly evil culture they built.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28635019/mark-dantonio-steps-coach-michigan-state
February 5th, 2020 at 9:13 AM ^
Classic case of selling out to win. Bringing in the only high level talent (that which has noted baggage) you are able to recruit in order to win games. Taking huge risks like these rarely works well, or long term. With the ever increasing urgency in most fan bases to win, situations msu put themselves in will only increase. I honestly hope his replacement is more diligent in maintaining a higher standard. We are pretty fortunate as fans, whether or not we choose to admit.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
This sucks. Right before we were about to abuse him for years to come, he runs away
February 4th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
See ya Dark Mantonio.
Hopefully they hire within. I feel like Luke Fickell would be a great hire for them, but I would like for them to be awful for the next several years. They may be anyways seeing their roster is pretty bad.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:18 PM ^
That's how I feel. I was really looking forward to beating his ass for several more years. So now that shitbag gets to retire with a winning record against us (has that ever happened before?)
On the bright side, they will never find another coach that wins as many games as he did. Even Saban couldn't do much of anything in EL.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
Saban's MSU teams would rival John L's in terms of Sparty noooooo!!!!, moments.
Extremely undisciplined and weak. You punch them in the mouth a few times and their soul would already be crushed for the remainder of the game.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
Luke Fickell is probably their #1 call.
Jim Tressel coaching tree, defensive-minded coach with familiarity with the B1G and the recruiting footprint of the area.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
Ohio guy. Built-in hatred for Michigan. Defensive Coordinator on a National Championship winning Ohio State team. Successful head coach at Cincinnati.
Dude's resume is literally the same as Dantonio's when Sparty hired him in 2007.
February 4th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
I mean, Brady Hoke was able to beat a Fickell-led OSU with gobs more talent. You're not wrong...but I'm also not particularly afraid of a Luke Fickell led Spartans team.
February 4th, 2020 at 5:10 PM ^
2020 head coach Fickell is not the same dude as 2011 assistant/interim coach Fickell.
Not overly concerned, but he is a guy I'd want Michigan to go after if Harbaugh left.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:34 PM ^
Lol, fuck no
February 4th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
Damn, wish he stayed tbh. Maybe they'll get someone who can actually recruit now lol
February 4th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
Darn was hoping he would stick around longer so UM could give him a couple more beatings to truly settle the score.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
Stayed long enough to get his bonus.
February 4th, 2020 at 2:53 PM ^
Got him