Mark Dantonio is a good football coach, I think. He coached under "the Vest at Ohio State and was the head football coach at Cincinnati before taking over the Spartans.
The reason, I hesitate whether he is a good coach or not is how he approaches the Michigan game. It's too obvious to anyone that has eyes, ears, or can read that Mark hates Michigan. Maybe he lived in the state of Ohio too long or maybe Mike Hart's "Little Brother" crack got to him but either way he has failed when it comes to the Michigan game and being a head coach.
College head football coaches are supposed to be leaders of men, motivators, tacticians, pubic relations experts, psychologist, and basically the CEO of the program. It's a mistake for Dantonio to use the "we don't like them" card when it comes to Michigan, it's wrong for him to get so upset the weeks prior to and the week after a loss to U of M. He should respect his opponent no mater who it is, prepare his team for a difficult football game and not put so much pressure on his own players.
These kids don't hate each other. They have grown up playing against each other in high school football in Michigan, Ohio and in other states. They most likely are friends off the field. Sure, they want to win this game, but they want to win every game. After it's over no matter who wins and who loses, they go on texting and tweeting each other. That's how sports are someone wins and someone loses.
My guess is Dantonio has put so much emphasis on this game, his team over looked CMU and wasn't fully prepared for Wisconsin last week. Comments like the following helped me come to that conclusion:
"This game is personal, and we need to win it," sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "And we better win it."
"Before the game last year, Coach D told us that if you haven't played Michigan, within 30 seconds you'll realize why we don't like them," defensive end Trevor Anderson said. "After about 15 seconds, I realized why I didn't like them. Just the total lack of respect that they have for our school in general. Not just the program, but the general lack of respect they have for us."
"The lack of respect they have, period," defensive end Trevor Anderson responded when asked about his dislike for Michigan. "It's sickening."
And from left tackle Rocco Cironi, an Ohio native, when asked if he grew up with a hatred for U-M: "Yeah, I think everybody has a hatred for Michigan."
"It would be a huge deal," junior linebacker Greg Jones said about beating U-M this year. "Forty-two years is a long time." (it's been 42 years since State beat Michigan in back to back seasons)
"I know this is a very important game," Dantonio said. "I try and deal with the present right now. It's a critical game for us. It always will be, regardless of our record."
"As I said last week, you're either going to walk the streets or walk the alleys," Dantonio said. "It's a year-to-year thing. It'll always be like that. ... It's a game that we'll focus on -- and always focus on here -- and make it extremely important."
And this is what they are saying to the media, you can only guess what is said behind the closed doors in East Lansing. You can be the judge if Mark Dantoino is a good coach or not but his hatred for Michigan is putting a ton of pressure on his 1-3 Spartans against the Wolverines this Saturday. It's more then a football game this weekend and that is where he fails.
If Michigan State wants respect they need to earn it and not by putting the weight of the entire season on this football game on Saturday. I guess that is why this game is on the Big Ten Network and not on ESPN or ABC like the Indiana game was last week.
8 comments:
Maybe that pressure is why MSU tends to lose so many close games to UM. I expect MSU's hatred to take them to a third quarter lead, but another fourth quarter collapse and UM victory Saturday.
Good point. Seems to me he's shooting himself in the foot: emotions often get in the way of good play. Kareem used to say, "Never get too high, never get too low. Just take care of business." Playing with hatred doesn't seem sustainable. It's also shows and breeds unsportsmanship-like conduct and indicates unprofessionalism on the coach's part. It's just a game.
If he needs to whip up hate in his squad, he mustn't have very much confidence in their abilities. The coach shouldn't care if they love or hate the other guys. All he should care about is that they get their jobs done and beat 'em.
I can agree with this article and some of you guys takes to a point...but this is what seperates the Big 10 from the Big 12 and SEC. This is why schools from those conferences are on top right now....they have a disdain for their rivals.
Anyone remember Lane Kiffin and his remarks about Florida? How about Spurrier when he was talking about Tennessee??
I am here to tell all of you...what Dantonio is saying and some of the MSU players is saying is tame compared to what Texas and Texas A&M, Texas and OU, OU and OSU..the list could go on. There is a different football culture here south of Mason Dixon line. Read some of the SEC or Big 12 message boards...go to an SEC or Big 12 rivalry game...it is a totally different game.
Believe me..I am a Wolverine through and through...but I have to disagree with the author of this article when he says that "It's more then a football game this weekend and that is where he fails"..why??
I mean this is why Michigan fans get this stigma of acting like we are better than everyone. Who cares how Spartan gets up for the game...if that is what they have to do to get up for the game..more power to em...but don't diss them because of it. I want Michigan to get fired up to beat Ohio State. If that means they have to psych themselves up and have foam coming out of their mouth so be it..I am tired of losing to Ohio State. At the same time..how are we as Michigan fan going to tell another team or fan base how or question why they get up for a game?? So what...we need to get up for the game and shut them up and take it to them.
And the remark about these kids growing up with one another and all that blah blah...so. They go to opposing schools now. You can respect the players and coaches but when that whistle blows..you better hit em like they stole something of yours or your teammates.
Any of you see where Coly McCoy and Sam Bradford did the dual interview on GameDay a couple weeks back....both of them got sooo much heat for even being in the same room with one another let alone doing the interview...you can't buy that kind of hatred. You just can't. And that is what makes the games so good and great to watch.
That is what the MSU and UM game lacks...if MSU wants to talk trash and express themselves like that...so be it. Long as Michigan goes to East Lansing and kicks some ass...I could care or less. And if MSU wins you better believe they will continue to talk that trash and come to Ann Arbor in 2010 looking to kick us again. And I can't be mad at them for that...put up or shut up is what it comes down to...
I think there was a better Dantonio quote that was missed in the Detroit News article:
"When you work 85, 90 hours a week to prepare for one single moment, you tend to remember those things," Dantonio said. "This will be no different.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there an issue somewhere recently with regard to how many hours are to be spent each week on athletics? Enjoy the sarcasm, but I chuckled when I read that and couldn't miss a chance to share it. Is he sending the wrong message to the student athletes by making the game out to be this big?
- They also practiced on Sunday after the Wisconsin loss. How do they have time to do that? Aren't they over on hours! :-)
I agree you can be friends off the field but not on. I also could care less how he get the Spartans up for a big game, I'm just saying I don't think it's very smart or makes much sense to use that motivation tactic.
I also remember before the draft Beanie Wells was saying that he was texting Michigan players after the game last year that he has friends on the team.
Hate is NOT what separates the SEC and the Big 12 from the Big 10. That's ridiculous.
I don't think old Sparty is as good as Dantonio thinks. Coach D is a real snob, you can see it on his face. GO BLUE!
When Michigan is on the field, my concern is that MSU's over aggressive play will end up hurting someone with this hate attitude. When coach Dantonio pushes that much hatred then the message given is that "it's alright to play dirty and to hurt the opponent." He is telling his players to win by "any means necessary." The players may do that to gain approval from their coach, therefore, instead of developing young men with integrity he is starting to develop young thugs who will believe that the outcome justifies the means.
MSU's belief that Michigan has no respect for them, seems to be a reflection of how they see themselves. They don't believe that they are competitive so they project onto Michigan this false attitude of "they don't respect us so we have to do something." The rivalry between UM and OSU is very emotional but it is based on mutual respect. Both schools feel good about their program. So you will never here this sort of rhetoric from either school. So until MSU gets past this, they will always have this self imposed title of second banana.
So, if the officiating is solid Saturday then Michigan should bode well in the game.
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