East Lansing, MI - Michigan State has named former assistant
Mark Dantonio as the school's new head football coach.
The 50-year-old Dantonio spent the past three seasons as head coach at
Cincinnati and returns to Michigan State where he served as the secondary
coach for six seasons (1995-2000) and added associate head coaching duties to
his resume in his last year.
Following his assistant coaching stint at MSU, Dantonio was the defensive
coordinator at Ohio State where he won a national title as part of Jim
Tressel's coaching staff in 2002.
In 2003, Cincinnati hired Dantonio as its head football coach and he has
compiled a record of 18-17 in three seasons. His Bearcats went 7-5 this year
with the biggest victory coming against previously unbeaten Rutgers on
November 18. The win against the Scarlet Knights, who were ranked seventh in
the nation at the time, was the highest-ranked team ever beaten by Cincinnati
in school history.
Dantonio replaces John L. Smith as the university announced on November 1 that
he would not return as the team's coach next season.
The Spartans, who lost eight of their last nine games this year, went 4-8
overall this season under Smith and were 1-7 in the Big Ten. Overall, Smith
was 22-26 in four seasons as head coach with the school.
Smith took over at Michigan State in December of 2002 after five successful
seasons at Louisville.
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