'His guys' — MSU coach Dantonio loyal to former players

Mark Dantonio was on SiriusXM College Sports Nation on Tuesday afternoon and was asked about “the Michigan State experience.”

If he was to sell what it means to play in his program, where does it start? It had nothing to do with winning. Nothing to do with playing in the NFL. Instead, it was about the relationships, and not just with teammates.

“Hopefully, when you come out of here, you’ve got relationships with your coaches for the rest of your life,” he said. “That’s very, very important, especially in this day and age. In society, you need to point to some person and say, ‘I can call that guy, reach back and touch people that had a significant impact on my life.’ That’s No. 1. That takes a certain amount of commitment to the player, trust and communication.

HT wrote:A friend of mine down in Cincinnati is pretty close with Greg Jones' family. He tells me that Coach D regularly checks in on Greg, whether it's calling/texting his dad or getting in contact with Greg Jones himself. 

Coach D is really great about caring for his players.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

InTenSity wrote:
What about the guys we don't hear about? The ones who only play in the 4th quarter of the first game because they are buried on the depth chart? I always wondered if the castaways are cared about as much as those that contribute significantly.

I care about them all equally..

InTenSity wrote:

HT wrote:A friend of mine down in Cincinnati is pretty close with Greg Jones' family. He tells me that Coach D regularly checks in on Greg, whether it's calling/texting his dad or getting in contact with Greg Jones himself. 

Coach D is really great about caring for his players.

What about the guys we don't hear about? The ones who only play in the 4th quarter of the first game because they are buried on the depth chart? I always wondered if the castaways are cared about as much as those that contribute significantly.

InTenSity wrote:

HT wrote:A friend of mine down in Cincinnati is pretty close with Greg Jones' family. He tells me that Coach D regularly checks in on Greg, whether it's calling/texting his dad or getting in contact with Greg Jones himself. 

Coach D is really great about caring for his players.

What about the guys we don't hear about? The ones who only play in the 4th quarter of the first game because they are buried on the depth chart? I always wondered if the castaways are cared about as much as those that contribute significantly.

CORNER BLITZ wrote:

InTenSity wrote:
What about the guys we don't hear about? The ones who only play in the 4th quarter of the first game because they are buried on the depth chart? I always wondered if the castaways are cared about as much as those that contribute significantly.

One of the guys that shared the original post isn't as well known. Played on special teams and didn't have a scholarship

CORNER BLITZ wrote:

InTenSity wrote:
What about the guys we don't hear about? The ones who only play in the 4th quarter of the first game because they are buried on the depth chart? I always wondered if the castaways are cared about as much as those that contribute significantly.

One of the guys that shared the original post isn't as well known. Played on special teams and didn't have a scholarship

EAST LANSING — Michigan State director of football operations Tim Allen goes way back with coach Mark Dantonio, when the two were at Kansas along with Spartans co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner.

Dantonio, Allen said, hasn't changed much since he joined he and Warner on then-coach Glen Mason's staff with the Jayhawks.

The same things that made Dantonio a great secondary coach then have made him a successful head coach now, and the same could be said for Warner.

"What separates Mark Dantonio in this profession that make him special, number one, he is the most genuine, caring person I've worked with in this profession, and so is his wife, Becky,'' Allen said on 'The Griff and Grinz Show' on Lansing's 92.1 FM, The Team. "Number two he's very creative, he's a very smart man, he knows what direction he wants to go and every day he pushes that forward.

InTenSity wrote:

CORNER BLITZ wrote:

One of the guys that shared the original post isn't as well known. Played on special teams and didn't have a scholarship

I just came up with a novel idea. I'll read the article first and then comment...on second thought I don't think I've ever done that.

"When a guy is DQed — medically disqualified — I ask them to continue to be a part of our program, and I don't allow them to stray off and just be a student and not have any interaction with our football team," Dantonio said. "I want them to feel of value. I don't want them to lose their value as a player in our program. So I've asked them to be involved — whether it's recruiting as a student-assistant or on-the-field coaching as a student-assistant or in the weight room or doing something. I just think that's important for their self‑worth."