Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio sitting squarely on the hot seat after Penn State loss
After a third straight loss to a ranked team, the end might be coming sooner than thought for Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio.
The best version of Mark Dantonio at Michigan State is in the rear-view mirror and is never going to make a return appearance in East Lansing. After a third-straight loss to a top-10 opponent in which the Spartans looked helpless on offense, the temperature on Dantonio’s seat will be ratcheted up a few degrees.
It was a cold and miserable day at Spartan Stadium where Dantonio’s teams failed to look competitive for the third week in a row. Michigan State used to at least always be competitive in Big Ten games, even if they were on the wrong side of the final score. That’s not the case anymore where Michigan State has scored 10, zero and seven in losses to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State, respectively. Add the seven points scored in the loss to Arizona State earlier this year and the Spartans offensive woes have remained a problem.
Dantonio thought he fixed the offensive problems from last year but just like shuffling the decks on the Titanic, it did nothing to rectify the bigger problem.
Things have soured for Dantonio in recent years since a 3-9 season in 2016. That ended a six-year run where Dantonio won 65 games. Since 2016, Michigan has three, 10 and seven-win seasons and could be headed toward another seven-win season after the loss to Penn State.
Michigan State has winnable games with Illinois in town in two weeks then at Rutgers after the Michigan game and vs. Maryland to close the year. If they lose to Michigan, that could be the dagger for Dantonio. In short, Michigan State would have lost to all the teams they were supposed to lose to with Arizona State the bad loss thrown in the mix. But the Sun Devils have been a ranked team most of the year, so it’s not a terrible loss.
That all may not matter if Michigan State’s administration decided it is best to make a change and fire Dantonio and bring in a fresh era. Dantonio has been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit involving former staffer Curtis Blackwell Jr. and a clean break could be something Michigan State wants to pursue.
Plus, Michigan State might miss out on some attractive coaching candidates if they choose to stick with Dantonio. Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell is a former Ohio State interim head coach and former Urban Meyer assistant who could be a fantastic hire for Michigan State. And Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck could make a transition from the West to the East division. He has the Golden Gophers undefeated and on the precipice of being ranked in the top 15, somewhere Dantonio used to live with Michigan State.
It might be time for a change at Michigan State to bring in a different voice and someone who can bring with him an offense that’s from this decade.
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