The most successful football coach in Michigan State University history, Mark Dantonio, was chosen into the College Football Hall of Fame.
at 16 seasons total (2004–19), Dantonio concluded with a record of 114–57 (.667) at East Lansing and 132–74 (.641) overall. Dantonio amassed an impressive resume while leading the Spartan program from 2007 to19. He won two Big Ten Championship Games (in 2013 and 2015), three Big Ten Championships (in 2010, 2013, and 2015), the Cotton Bowl and Rose Bowl in 2014, and qualified for the 2015 College Football Playoffs.
In addition to holding the record for the most wins at MSU, Dantonio was the only coach in school history to win three Big Ten Championships, six bowl games, and 12 bowl berths. He is tied for best in AP Top 25 finishes (seven), second in Big Ten victories (69), home wins (67), and AP Top 25 wins (21), and his winning % in Big Ten games (.639, 69–39) is a school record.
When Dantonio got the news, he stated, “I felt very humbled and overwhelmed by the significance of the moment.” “We wanted to create things that would last and positively affect each individual when I took over as head coach.
“So many individuals are working toward this accolade. I would want to express my gratitude to my family, my teammates, their families, all those involved in this program, the administration, Spartan supporters, and most of all, the players. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be a part of this esteemed group in 2024.
“Throughout my coaching career, I have to thank a plethora of amazing coaches and individuals.” I attended Youngstown State and then Ohio State thanks to Jim Tressel. My first head coaching job was hired by Bob Goin, the former athletic director at Cincinnati, after I was recruited by Nick Saban to Michigan State.
Ron Apperson, my high school coach, and Coach (Dale) Evans, the collegiate position coach at South Carolina, inspired me to believe that coaching, at any level, would be a fantastic career. After hiring me as a GA at Ohio State, Randy Hart, things really took off.
“Coach Izzo has been nothing short of amazing; Mark Hollis and Lou Anna Simon, who hired me back to MSU, were always very supportive.” Tom has always supported me, and I am really grateful for everything he has done for me both on and off the pitch throughout the years.
“I always talked about and worked to uphold and develop five things: winning, being a light in the community, having a strong work ethic, and personal connections. Gaining is a multifaceted process. Our victory extended beyond the pitch. I believed that our personnel, people, and player development proved to be successful. I would especially want to express my gratitude to the players once more for their unwavering commitment and labor, which enabled our program to achieve success.”
Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at MSU Alan Haller stated, “Mark Dantonio clearly has the records, the bowl wins, and the resume of a Hall of Famer, but for me, his legacy is something even greater.”
“Coach D united alumni, families, and friends from all across the Michigan State community around championships, milestones, and celebrations, creating a lifetime of memories for Spartans everywhere.” He showed us that dreams may come true and pushed us to dream bigger than we thought was possible.”
Head coach of MSU men’s basketball Tom Izzo commented, “I can’t begin to say how happy I am for Mark Dantonio on his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.” “Mark was regarded as one of the top college football coaches during his almost 40-year career, which included 13 years as the program’s head coach at Michigan State and 16 as a head coach at other schools.
After three years of excellent success at Cincinnati, where he was selected for two bowl games, he returned to Michigan State and helped make our team one of the greatest in the nation. Mark had a quiet hardness about him that enabled him take our program to levels it had never achieved before. He also knew how to establish a staff and a program.
My favorite MSU memory and experience is leading my football team to the 2015 Dallas Final Four. Mark is a coworker, but he’s also a buddy. I couldn’t have imagined somebody more deserving of the news when I first heard it.”
Joining Clarence “Biggie” Munn (1959), Charles Bachman (1978), Duffy Daugherty (1984), and Frank “Muddy” Waters (2000) as the five former Michigan State head coaches to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame is Dantonio.
On December 10 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Dantonio will receive his formal induction into the College Football Hall of Fame during the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame’s 66th Annual Awards Dinner.
During the 2024 season, the inductees will also receive NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, sponsored by Fidelity Investments, at their respective collegiate schools. The College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta will keep their achievements forever.
Among the greatest football coaches in Big Ten history, Dantonio also holds this distinction during his time at Michigan State. Retiring, he was one of only seven Big Ten coaches (Joseph Paterno, Penn State; Lloyd Carr, Michigan; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa) with at least six 10-win seasons on their record, and only one of four with at least five 11-win seasons (Tressel, Paterno, Meyer).
In the Big Ten record books, Dantonio concluded his career ranked No. 11 in terms of total victories (114) and Big Ten wins (69). Dantonio tied for fourth place in Big Ten history with his sixth bowl victory, which came from MSU’s 2019 Pinstripe Bowl triumph.
Big Ten Coach of the Year twice (2010, 2013), Dantonio guided Michigan State to seven Top 25 rankings (2008, 2010, 2011, 2010, 2013, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, No. 15 AP/No. 16 USA TODAY), and 2011 (No. 10 USA TODAY/No. 11 AP).
Seven AP Top-25 finishes by Dantonio equaled for the most in school history (during his 19-year stint from 1954 to 1972, Duffy Daugherty’s teams recorded seven Top-25 rankings). With 36 victories from 2013–15, MSU was the only school to finish in the top six of the national rankings from 2013–15 (No. 3 in 2013, No. 5 in 2014, and No. 6 in 2015). This was also the program’s most successful three-year period ever.
Based on overall victories, Michigan State’s 2010s decade was the best in the program’s history; from 2010 to 19, the Spartans had a 92-40 (.697) record. In that time, MSU won three Big Ten Championships (2010, 2013, 2015), three Big Ten Division crowns (2011, 2013, 2015), and six bowl games (2012 Outback, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings, 2014 Rose, 2015 Cotton, 2017 Holiday, 2019 Pinstripe). The six bowl victories were tied for second most by any Big Ten program in the last ten years, and the 92 victories were the seventh-most by any Big Ten team in history.
After MSU’s 12-win season in 2015, Dantonio established history as the first Big Ten coach to achieve five 11-win seasons in a six-year period (11 in 2010; 11 in 2011; school-record 13 in 2013; 11 in 2014; 12 in 2015). When he retired, his five seasons with eleven wins were tied for third most in Big Ten history. MSU had only two 10-win seasons (1965, 1999) and had never experienced an 11-win season prior to Dantonio’s arrival.
Between 2007 and 2015, Michigan State participated in a school-record nine straight bowl games: the Champs Sports Bowl in 2007, the Capital One Bowl in 2009, the Alamo Bowl in 2010, the Outback Bowl in 2012, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2012, the Rose Bowl in 2014, the Cotton Bowl in 2015, and the College Football Playoff Semifinal at Cotton Bowl in 2015.
Dantonio finished 6-6 in bowl games at Michigan State, including a school-record four-game victory streak (2012 Outback, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings, 2014 Rose, 2015 Cotton). In 2019, Dantonio made his 12th bowl game participation in the Pinstripe Bowl, furthering his school record.
With 13 wins in a school record, a victory against No. 5 Stanford in the 100th Rose Bowl Game, a victory over No. 2 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, and a rating of No. 3 in both national polls—its best since 1966—Michigan State enjoyed an incredible season in 2013. In Big Ten history, Michigan State (13-1) is just the third team to win 13 games in a season.
In the fall of 2023, the Spartans commemorated the 10-year reunion of the Big Ten and Rose Bowl Championship teams. Dantonio said of the 10-year reunion, “Just like this moment, it was another special time in a special place with special people.” “That day, I waited at the football facility until the final player departed. It really closed a circle to see our guys today, what they’re doing with their life, and their families.”
On September 21, 2019, Dantonio defeated Northwestern 31–10 to win his 110th game as head coach at Michigan State, tying Hall of Fame Coach Duffy Daugherty for the most victories in school history. In his 13 years in East Lansing, Dantonio tied Daugherty for the most winning seasons of any Spartan head coach with 11.
Dantonio, a Midwesterner who was born and raised in Zanesville, Ohio, coached at the college level for 40 years. He spent 16 of those years as a head coach (three at Cincinnati from 2004–06 and 13 at Michigan State from 2007–19), and he spent 19 of those years altogether in East Lansing (he was the Spartan secondary coach from 1995–2000).
In 2023, he came back to support the Spartans as assistant head coach, serving in an off-field coaching capacity. Before joining Cincinnati, Dantonio was Ohio State’s defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2003. During that time, his defense team led the Buckeyes to a 32-6 overall record, which included a 2002 National Championship.
Dantonio arrived on university with the same kind of dedication to academic accomplishment. 238 athletes received their undergraduate degrees over his 13 seasons. Furthermore, 219 Spartans were selected for Academic All-Big Ten, with nine of them being named Academic All-America.
In addition to being inducted into the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in June 2022, Dantonio was also selected the 2023 Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards ceremony’s recipient of the “Heart of a Champion” Award.
Apart from the five former head coaches (Bachman, Munn, Daugherty, Waters, Dantonio), the following ten former Michigan State players are inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Don Coleman, the tackle, in 1975; Gene Washington, the wide receiver, in 2011; Percy Snow, the linebacker, in 2013; Clinton Jones, the running back, in 2015; Kirk Gibson, the wide receiver, in 2017; and Lorenzo White, the running back, in 2019.
THE FILE OF DANTONIO
COACHING EXPERIENCE: COLLEGE – Graduate assistant at Ohio University (1980); graduate assistant at Purdue (1981); defensive coordinator at Butler Junior College (Kan.) (1982); graduate assistant at Ohio State (1983–84); defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Akron (1985); defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Youngstown State (1986–90); defensive secondary coach at Kansas (1991–94); associate head coach (2000) at Michigan State (1995–2000); defensive coordinator at Ohio State (2001–03); head coach at Ohio State (2001–03); head coach at Cincinnati (2004–06); head coach at Michigan State (2007–19).
COACHING RECORD: 18-17 (.514) in three years at Cincinnati (2004-06); 114-57 (.667) in thirteen seasons at Michigan State (2007-19); 132-74 (.641) in sixteen seasons as a collegiate head coach.
A degree in education was earned in 1979 as a bachelor’s student from South Carolina and in 1980 as a master’s student from Ohio University.
Playing experience: South Carolina (1976–78): Three-year letterman as a defensive back.
EXPERIENCE IN BOWL/POSTSEASON: Coach, 1987 The NCAA I-AA playoffs in 1989 and 1990, respectively, Eight Fiesta Bowls: 1984, 1985, Rose Bowl, 1992, Aloha Bowl, 1995 Independence Bowl, 1996 Sun Bowl, 1997 Aloha Bowl, 2000 Florida Citrus Bowl, 2002 Outback Bowl, 2003 Fiesta Bowl, 2004 Fiesta Bowl, 2004 Fort Worth Bowl, 2007 Champs Sports Bowl, 2009, 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, 2011 Capital One Bowl, 2012 Outback Bowl, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, 2014 Rose Bowl, 2015 Cotton Bowl, 2015 College Football Playoff (Cotton Bowl), 2017 Holiday Bowl, 2018 Redbox Bowl, 2019 Pinstripe Bowl.