Mark Dantonio

Mark Justin Dantonio (born March 9, 1956) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Michigan State University and he has held the position since the 2007 season, presiding over one of the most successful eras in the program's history. He's led the Michigan State Spartans to three Big Ten Conference championships, and eight victories over archrival Michigan in twelve years. In 2013, he coached Michigan State to its first 13-win season and the program's fifth trip to the Rose Bowl, where they defeated Stanford and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation. At the time, this was only the second instance a Big Ten team had reached the 13-win mark, the other being Ohio State's national championship season in 2002, where Dantonio was the defensive coordinator. The 2013 season also marked the first time a Big Ten team won nine conference games by double digits in each contest. In 2015, Dantonio became the first head coach in Big Ten history to achieve at least 11 wins in five of six seasons. On December 6, 2015, Dantonio's Spartans qualified for the College Football Playoff for the first time in the program's history. The Spartans were the No. 3 seed in the Playoff and faced Alabama in the 2015 Cotton Bowl, but lost 38–0. In 2006, Dantonio was hired as the Spartans head coach, returning to the school where he served six years as an assistant coach under Nick Saban and Bobby Williams. Known as a defensive-minded coach, Dantonio has compiled a 107–51 record at Michigan State, giving him a .691 winning percentage, the highest of any Michigan State football coach since Clarence Munn, who coached the Spartans from 1947 to 1953. During his tenure, the Spartans have won the school's first bowl game since 2001 in the 2012 Outback Bowl and the school's first Rose Bowl since 1988 in 2014. Dantonio's Spartans hold active school record with four consecutive bowl wins. On October 8, 2011, Dantonio signed a contract extension that mad