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Michigan State Football: If you want Mark Dantonio fired, turn in your fan card
As crazy as it may seem, some Michigan State football fans are calling for Mark Dantonio’s job.
Imagine having a top-five coach in college football who has delivered five 11-win seasons in six years and a Big Ten title in two of the past three years. Now imagine wanting him fired after a 2-5 start to the season. That’s exactly what some Michigan State football fans want out of Mark Dantonio.
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No, it’s not a majority of the fan base — it’s not even a good amount — but there are select fans who have been calling for Dantonio’s job despite the tremendous turnaround he has done with Michigan State football.
@mattcharboneau Then Dantonio should be fired
— whisox (@whisox) October 2, 2016
It started with a “what if MSU loses out” scenario that caused some fans to believe the head coach was in danger of losing his job. Then it was him sticking to Tyler O’Connor at quarterback that ruffled some feathers and now even the five-game losing streak has people jumping off the bandwagon.
It’s incredible that people even think this way give the past under Bobby Williams and John L. Smith. Michigan State has come so far as a program to even hint that the most successful coach since Duffy Daugherty should be fired is ignorant.
Time to turn in your Michigan State fan card if you think Dantonio should be fired. No, really, hand it over.
Let’s flash back to 2006. Michigan State was coming off a 5-6 campaign in 2005 under John L. and he promised that it would get better. He wasn’t going to let up until Michigan State joined the Big Ten’s elite. How did he deliver? Oh, just by leading the Spartans to a 4-8 campaign only to get canned after the season.
Ron Mason and Mark Hollis joined forces to find the next coach, even with a little help from Tom Izzo. They happened upon Cincinnati head coach Mark Dantonio who worked as a defensive backs coach under Nick Saban at Michigan State from 1995-2000. He was the perfect fit.
Fans loved his attitude and the fact that he despised everything about Michigan. Did he respect the Wolverines as a program? Of course, we all do. Did he like them? Not a chance.
The “pride comes before the fall” speech is just what Michigan State fans needed to hear. He won over thousands of people by calling Michigan out and saying “it will never be over” after Mike Hart dubbed Michigan State ‘little brother.’
Since taking over in 2007, Michigan State has won 89 games. THat’s more than the Spartans had from 1991-2006. You want to fire that guy after one bad season, good luck trying to find someone who would do a better job.
Michigan State is in the golden age of its football program. The Spartans have won three Big Ten titles, three division titles, a Rose Bowl, a Cotton Bowl and have made the College Football Playoff. Michigan State has gone from an irrelevant Big Ten program with a ‘Same Old Spartans’ mantra to a national contender.
Want to fire Dantonio? That’s fine, but maybe you should be rooting for a different team. The only people who should want Dantonio fired are Michigan and Ohio State fans since he is 10-6 against them combined since taking over — including 7-2 against Michigan.
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