Yesterday, as a shock to me, but maybe it shouldn't have been, Mark Dantonio stepped down as the head coach of the Michigan State football team. Now, since Kobe Bryant tragically died, I am trying to not be so judgmental about sports figures. They are people just like me, who happen to have their entire lives on camera. They are constantly in the limelight. But, this was a hard one for me to not be cynical, or laugh about.

First off, the entire Michigan State sports program is guilty of some seriously heinous crimes. I know they locked up that one monster, but still, many, many stories have come out about the other teams there, and the football team is one of the biggest culprits, and it all happened under Dantonio's watch. He has recruited, and stood up for, student athletes that have been accused of things like sexual and domestic assault, robbery and not going to class. He has stood up for these kids. He said glowing things about them. Hell, this season his best defender was suspended for steroids. And what did Dantonio do you ask? Well, he stood up for him, said the test was wrong, then when it was revealed that it was true, and only then, was he forced to suspend him. Note, he never kicked him off the team, just suspended him for the season. That player is gone now, but still, he should have been kicked off the team. But Dantonio never did that, and stuck by his side. You may read that and think, what a class act, but remember, he was standing up for a player that was knowingly taking steroids. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if Dantonio himself not only knew about this, but encouraged this.

That is one of the many reasons why I find it so hard to say nice things about him. I will say, he did lead his team to the College Football Playoff one season, but their QB that year was a known racist, and he had a few sexual offenders on the roster of that team. And he did have a winning record against Michigan, but look at who was coaching those teams. In Dantonio's first year, he said some garbage, had a 14 point lead, but Michigan came back and won. This spawned the whole "little brother" thing, of which I am not a fan of, and Dantonio used this to amp his team up. And it worked. But, it worked against Wolverines teams coached by Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. He got fat off of two of the worst head coaches that Michigan has ever hired. Harbaugh was 3-2 against him, and if it wasn't for a ridiculously muffed punt, he would have easily been 4-1. Also, the one was when Michigan had John O'Korn at QB. Take that as you may.

Outside of the Michigan rivalry, Dantonio was a fine coach, but a coach that constantly made excuses, and blamed everyone but himself. When the University of Ohio State would beat his good teams, he would blame officials, or injuries. Injuries have been his biggest gripe these past couple of years while MSU has struggled. I can't take this seriously because every team has injury problems. Alabama lost their star QB this year and still won 11 games. The University of Ohio State lost two QB's one season, and won the CFP. Clemson's star receiver, Tee Higgins, was in and out of both playoff games this year, and Clemson still made it to the title game. Every team suffers injuries, and most coaches don't blame their downfall of the team on that. Dantonio did all the time.

This resignation isn't all too wild given the accusations lobbied against the university I should suppose. I feel like this may be the start of something big, not in a good way, at MSU. I heard a report, and this is all conjecture at this point clearly, that Tom Izzo is thinking about stepping after this year. That wouldn't shock me. Izzo has been fervent that he isn't going anywhere, but so was Dantonio. He got his bonus, and two days before national signing day, he bounced. Who's to say Izzo won't do something similar when the basketball season is over.

Also, I feel like Dantonio is leaving the football team in a bad place. He said some nonsense when he took the job about never leaving them in a bad spot. But, they are coming off two very subpar years, they are still stuck in the past offensively, their defense isn't as feared as it used to be, and the Michigan State football job isn't a super desirable one. I already saw that Matt Campbell, Iowa State's head coach, has declined to interview. And looking at the names that are on their list, well, Luke Fickell is the "best" name on there. I honestly don't know why any major head coach, or coordinator, would want to take on a job like this. As I said, I feel like Dantonio saw the writing on the wall, got his money and bounced before his name could be dragged. It will still get dragged, but he is so oblivious to any of that, he probably thinks this will clear his name.

Finally, Dantonio compiled a nice record as a head coach, but he was also a major asshole, a curmudgeon that blamed everyone but himself and was starting to fall off. So, while this surprised me at first glance, after I thought about it for a day, it makes sense, and I am curious to see what happens from here. As I stated, I think this is the first of many dominos to fall at MSU. It has taken too long, but I think the walls are starting to close in now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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