EAST LANSING — Mark Dantonio may have retired from head coaching five years ago, but he didn’t retire from football. In reality, he’s around it as much as he ever was.

The Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame inducted Dantonio Friday as part of its six-member 2025 class. It enshrined his program-record 114 wins, 12 bowl games, three Big Ten championships and one College Football Playoff appearance over the course of his 13-year career as the Spartans’ coach.

Dantonio’s coaching career may be over, but nowadays he’s watching more football than he even did as a coach as a member of the CFP Selection Committee.

“I really have,” Dantonio said. “I’ve watched more coaching film, and I watched a lot of TV games to sort of get the start of the season, who’s who and things of that nature. … I’ve always watched a lot of football, but probably pushing it a little bit more now.”

That’s his idea of retirement. Of taking it easy. On top of all that work, Friday’s induction marked the third hall of fame the 69-year-old Dantonio has entered in the past year, joining the College Football Hall of Fame (for which he also entered the Spartan Stadium Ring of Honor) and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2024.

The football itch has never been scratched for Dantonio, who started out as an All-Ohio safety at Zanesville High School in the 1970s. He played for South Carolina from 1976-78 before embarking on a 40-year coaching career across nine different schools, including the head coach at Cincinnati from 2004-06 and Michigan State from 2007-19. Dantonio earned Big Ten Coach of the Year twice in that span (2010 and 2013).

To Dantonio, his selection to Michigan State’s hall of fame is an honor beyond himself.

“I got started because I wanted to be around young people and watch young people develop,” Dantonio said, “and I love the X’s and O’s of it, and all the things that go along with it. But it really was about the players, and what can you accomplish with young people.”

How much could Dantonio accomplish? A lot. He brought Michigan State back as a powerhouse of the Big Ten in the 2010s, routinely in bowls and routinely winning against rivals — his 8-5 record against Michigan is the highest win percentage of any coach in program history. With Dantonio coaching football and Tom Izzo coaching men’s basketball, Michigan State established itself as a premier athletic department.

These days Dantonio’s program is the standard by which his Michigan State successors are judged — easy enough when he’s the winningest to ever do it. But in many respects, Michigan State’s program has never quite recovered since Dantonio’s retirement. It was a decision that caught many inside and outside the university by surprise when he announced it in February 2020, right before national signing day. Five seasons since his departure have yielded one winner: Mel Tucker’s 11-2 campaign in 2021 powered by Kenneth Walker III.

Piece by piece, it appears current coach Jonathan Smith (hired in November 2023, after Tucker’s scandal-clad dismissal brought Dantonio back to the sideline one more time as an associate head coach) has gotten the closest to filling that hole. Smith has given Dantonio his props over the course of two years in East Lansing, and Dantonio said he feels Smith has the program “on the right course.”

Dantonio himself didn’t build his own program in a vacuum, taking plenty of inspiration from two other Michigan State hall of fame members: George Perles and Duffy Daugherty.

“I think everybody has their own program, but you always look back in the past and try and, I think, replicate what was good,” Dantonio said. “You know, that’s what I tried to do. I reached back to Coach Perles’ teams, and then also to Duffy’s teams and things like that. And, you know, Michigan State’s got great tradition here. So once you’ve done it once, there’s always the possibility of doing it again.”

College football is a markedly different landscape since Dantonio retired. The transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation changed the fabric of the sport so much that teams can now share revenue directly with athletes. The money side of the sport is more transparent than ever, and with that comes roster churn. That side of the sport is antithetical to Dantonio’s program, known for players sticking with him and his staff.

Dantonio still misses some joys of coaching, even if he’s still ingrained in the sport.

“I don’t miss the butterflies,” he said. “You know, that apprehension a little bit. But I miss the competitiveness of it and the thrill of winning.”

Maybe that’s why he’s never truly retired.

Funny how life works

From 1986-90, Dantonio served as the defensive coordinator for Jim Tressel’s Youngstown State program, helping lay the foundation for what would become a four-time NCAA Division I-AA national champion in the 1990s.

Saturday, that same Youngstown State program comes to East Lansing to play the Spartans (2-0).

“Going full circle a little bit,” Dantonio said. “I think I was 29 years old when I took the job at Youngstown. I was there for five years, and then (Tressel) stayed, I think, another 13 and won some national championships. (My) last year, ‘90, we were undefeated, but lost in the playoffs. But Youngstown had a great program, and still to this day, I think they’re very highly regarded.”

Current Youngstown State head coach Doug Phillips became a grad assistant with Tressel’s team the year after Dantonio left.

Youngstown State has played Michigan State three times in history, with the Spartans winning in 2011, 2013 and 2021, the first two under Dantonio.

EAST LANSING — Usually college football coaches have all the answers. At Michigan State, they’ve got all the questions.

Though the money and attention paid to college sports has professionalized the sport, college football is still, at its root, about player development. The vast majority of players come to campus either eyeing a future in professional football or needing to improve to touch the college field. From the perspective of Michigan State’s coaches, getting players there starts with their own ears.

“We believe that a smarter player is a better player, right?” safeties coach James Adams said Wednesday. “And so part of teaching and coaching and developing these young people is figuring out how they learn.”

Not only how players learn, but what they know in the first place. In order to develop better players, coaches deconstruct the framework of how they think about football, then fill the gaps. Players are different these days. The Spartans (2-0) have made a deliberate effort to recruit the sorts of players who want to learn and grow, who can handle themselves with intention.

“Kids are changing, you know,” offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said in August. “And it’s not the kids’ fault, it’s not the parents’. It’s just what’s around them. So you try to find those right kids.”

When the right type of kids get on campus, though, they’re all at various levels of football understanding. Before coaches can teach them anything, they must learn where players are at in their understanding of the game.

In the past, there’d be that caricature of an old-school coach who would rip into a player and tell them exactly what they needed to do, and the player’s success depended on how well they applied the lessons. These days, more young players are inquisitive. They want to, or even need to, understand “why” before they act. Their grasp of purpose dictates their chance of success.

Michigan State’s coaches are well equipped to handle those questions of “why.” In fact, they prefer it that way. Purpose is central to the development of players, getting down to the nitty-gritty details to elevate players’ football IQs.

It works like this: Aidan Chiles goes to a film session and watches back his tape. Before a coach lays into his ball placement, or his footwork, or his decision of when to scramble, they first ask what he sees. And through direct communication developed by trust, Chiles shows where he’s at.

“I have to have that with him,” quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer said Tuesday. “And so for me, everything, I try to pose questions rather than giving him the answers so that I know exactly what he’s thinking. We have to have that open line of communication, and that’s the way that we’re building the room together with all the quarterbacks.”

The same goes with defensive players. Adams, for example, will ask his defensive players what they see in the film room or even on the sideline. It’s what makes the difference between Armorion Smith miscommunicating on a touchdown play and making the game-saving pass breakup in double overtime, like he did Saturday.

“My question is always what happened?” Adams said. “If they can tell me what happened, right, we can work through the hows and the adjustments.”

By developing smarter players — especially on defense — Michigan State’s coaches can accelerate growth.

“We give them a clear way to learn and a process to learn,” Adams said. “The game of football hasn’t changed in 100 years, so we’re still teaching Cover 2 and Cover 3 like everybody else. But making sure the guys understand the why of what we’re doing and what we’re calling it, and then situationally how that may change.”

This philosophy has advantages on the financial side, too. The Spartans’ roster may not be laden with blue-chip talent, but head coach Jonathan Smith and his staff squeeze everything out of — and give every opportunity to — their players in order to maximize success. As Michigan State continues building its war chest to compete with the big spenders, Smith’s strategy gets a lot of bang for a smaller buck.

This strategy comes with responsibility for players, too. They have to be honest, first and foremost, about what they see on the field. Players almost have to be coaches themselves, something that favors older players who’ve played a lot of football. It’s a slow process, but the results can be strong, as Smith’s latter years at Oregon State showed.

“We’ve got a veteran group that they do a great job of coaching themselves and correcting themselves,” Adams said of this year’s team.

After one more tuneup against Youngstown State on Saturday (3:30 p.m./BTN), Michigan State will enter Big Ten play, where the margin for error shortens and there’s less time for learning. But don’t expect coaches to stop asking questions. Because it’s there where the key to this program’s success lies.

Two-point conversion

Aidan Chiles had a rowdy celebration after Saturday’s win over Boston College. He climbed into the student section to dance, hugged teammates, coaches and even commentators on the field. And he scooped up a child on the field and swung him around with a big hug.

That child was Boyer’s son. He and Chiles have known each other since Boyer was on Smith’s Oregon State staff that recruited Chiles in the 2023 class.

“Moments like that, (Chiles) earned the opportunity,” Boyer said. “And then for me to be a part of that and my son to be a part of that at the end of the game with a big hug, that’s what it’s about.”

EAST LANSING — A lot of words were said at halftime of Michigan State’s 42-40 double-overtime win over Boston College. A lot of tough truths. Probably some words not to be repeated in front of strangers. Some of the most important came from Nick Marsh.

The sophomore wide receiver had three catches on five targets for 22 yards and a touchdown in the first half, but he felt like he could’ve had more against a secondary that gave him space. Down 21-14, it was time to make a play. He let Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith know it.

“I told him coach, I got one-on-one coverage, give me the damn ball,” Marsh said.

Smith did, and it was Marsh who scored a tide-turning 41-yard touchdown to kickstart the Spartans’ comeback. He added one more catch, on six targets, for a 68-yard night.

How did Smith take his star speaking up?

“If that’s the case, he’s probably right, if it’s one-on-one,” Smith said. “Nick’s a competitor, I thought that was huge. Talk about his first touchdown, he’s carrying guys into the end zone on a slant like that. He is a competitive kid, talented and so, yeah, we gotta continue to find ways to get him the ball.”

Marsh has already tied his career high in touchdowns in a season — three — two games into the season. He had a quiet Week 1 against Western Michigan with just five catches for 32 yards.

A performance like Saturday’s flashes the kind of spark Marsh can ignite, both within himself and within his team.

Marsh was one of eight different players to catch a pass in the win and one of four with multiple touches, including fellow receivers Omari Kelly and Chrishon McCray.

“All these guys are great receivers,” quarterback Aidan Chiles said. “And if it’s their day, it’s their day. If they’re open, they’re open. And we’re going to get them the ball.”

Spencer crucial to the defense

Chiles’ apparent injury in the fourth quarter made Spartan Stadium hush to silence, but there was an equally important one in the first half. Safety Malik Spencer went down near the Michigan State sideline without putting weight on his right leg.

With Spencer gone, Boston College’s offense struck. The Eagles rattled off three straight scoring drives, with the majority of the yardage coming up the middle of the secondary where his absence created a hole.

“He’s a pretty big piece,” Smith said. “He is a good player, experienced out there. … He’s one of our better players on defense. And so again, we miss him when he’s (not) out there.”

In Spencer’s absence until late in the second half, Justin Denson Jr. and Devynn Cromwell played often. Cromwell got beat for a 56-yard sideline throw from Boston College quarterback Dylan Lonergan to receiver VJ Wilkins. That drive tied the game at 7, with 83 of 88 yards coming through the air.

Boston College scored two more touchdowns through the air in the second half, with Lonergan racking up 217 passing yards on 18-for-22 passing in the first half. By game’s end, he had 390 yards and another touchdown (scored in overtime). Nine of his passes went for more than 15 yards.

Not all of Michigan State’s secondary woes can be ascribed to that first-half spell without Spencer, but it exacerbated a talent problem in a secondary riding depth above star power. Spencer’s health, as well as that of fellow safety Nikai Martinez (out for the first two games of the season with an offseason injury) are two of the biggest questions facing this defense early.

Elsewhere in the defense, cornerback Joshua Eaton got beat a few times in coverage, and so did the linebackers over the middle. It’s an area Michigan State must clean up, because it’s part of the reason this game nearly went off the rails before halftime.

Ball security a problem for Kelly

Before he’d said anything at his postgame press conference, Kelly had something to get off his chest:

“I would like to shout my teammates out for not giving up on me,” Kelly said.

Saturday’s game started as a disasterclass from Kelly. After the defense forced a three-and-out to begin the game, Kelly fumbled away the punt return trying to strain for extra yards. The Spartans got the ball back off a fumble by Boston College running back Turbo Richard, but Kelly nearly gave it back later in the ensuing drive when he tried to hurdle a defender, knocking the ball loose with his knee before it bounced out of bounds.

“Something I live by is ‘don’t flinch,’” Kelly said. “Like whatever happens, however things go — good or bad — don’t flinch, because things are changing in a second.”

How quickly Kelly shook off his performance when he made a 30-yard catch out of halftime to set up Marsh’s touchdown, or when he fell on a Makhi Frazier fumble in the fourth quarter to prevent a vital drive from slipping away. And when the second overtime forced Michigan State to go for two, Chiles found Kelly on the left side of the end zone for the win.

Kelly’s punt returns showed a lot of risk, though, beyond his fumble. His decision-making under pressure faltered, like when he tried to corral a ball with one hand while surrounded by Boston College players in the second half. He’s not one to call a fair catch when he can avoid it, an area of unpredictability.

EAST LANSING — There’s a kick from Friday’s game that might bug Michigan State punter Ryan Eckley for a while.

It wasn’t any of his punts, two of which trapped Western Michigan within an stone’s throw of the goal line. It wasn’t his kickoffs either, including one that he sailed into the end zone for a touchback. It was a 46-yard field goal that he just sliced left to end the first half of a 23-6 win.

“Ahh, it would have been cool,” Eckley said listfully after Wednesday’s practice. “It would have been cool.”

Usually, Eckley is the holder on field goals. Who knew back in November that his first appearance of his senior season would include kicking them? With the Spartans’ top two kickers injured and the only healthy one — Blake Sislo — limited in range, Eckley had to dust off some skills he hadn’t used since his Newsome High School days down in Florida.

Forgive him for missing that field goal, even if his teammates gave him some loving grief on the field as the Spartans ran down the tunnel for halftime. He’d been practicing those long kicks for weeks during fall camp, kicking five field goals a day at eight or 10 practices by his estimation. He hit them all the way back to 60 yards, he says, even though he wanted to save his leg for his day job.

“I still have the leg to make it,” Eckley said. “I mean, it’s just finding the accuracy and consistency, not doing it as often as I used to.”

What Eckley definitely has is the confidence. His presence could command any stage, a self-deprecating humor and dry honesty that makes an audience hang on every word. And he loves talking about his craft. He uses golf as a metaphor.

“Kicking and golf are identical,” Eckley said. “You come over the ball, you slice, you pull, you draw, you leave your club face open. Your foot is your club.”

Like that 46-yard field goal?

“Probably an 8-iron, 9-iron lob shot,” Eckley said.

Or that second-quarter kickoff he sailed for a touchback?

“Sixty-degree Mizuno Pros,” Eckley said. “Just got them fitted.”

Even punting has its own selection of clubs, mostly wedges, depending on where and how he wants the ball to go. That’s an area that he wanted to grow this season, and so far it appears he has.

“Sometimes it’s like, hey, I need to play the 3-wood,” co-special teams coordinator Chad Wilt said Aug. 14. “I need to play the draw, I need to play the fade. It’s very similar to, like, what’s the shot selection for those guys?”

It’s fitting that after his second-quarter kickoff, Eckley stood on the Spartan head at the 50-yard line and mimed a drive, a little bit of swagger at a position used to making cult heroes. Like Bryce Baringer, his Big Ten Punter of the Year predecessor and holder of multiple records at Michigan State in career and season yardage. Baringer is now with the New England Patriots. Eckley is following those footsteps, with his game earning him both recognition from fans and boosting his hopes of one day punting on Sundays.

For now, he’s punting and kicking on Saturdays, with his name on the preseason Ray Guy watch list honoring the nation’s best punters. Eckley comes off a junior year averaging a Big Ten-best 47.9-yard average.

In four punts against Western Michigan, he averaged 51.3, with two of them pinning Western Michigan inside of three yards to the goal line. One of those led to a safety by Alex VanSumeren and Jalen Thompson. The other probably could have too if the Western Michigan quarterback didn’t fall on his own lineman. Plays like that make Eckley a defense’s best friend.

“The percentages are higher for the defense when the ball is closer inside the 20 and things like that,” Thompson said Wednesday. “So Eckley making it possible for the defense is only gonna help us.”

Without progress on the injury front, there’s a high chance Eckley continues pulling out all his clubs against Boston College in Saturday’s game (7:30 p.m./NBC). Head coach Jonathan Smith said if everything holds, Sislo will kick extra points and short- to mid-range field goals, while Eckley will kick long field goals and kickoffs.

Punts, kickoffs, holds — there isn’t a whole lot Eckley hasn’t done at his position, save for one bucket list item:

“I gotta score at some point,” he said.

Whether he throws, catches or runs in a touchdown, Eckley counts them all the same. It’d be a fitting addition to the scorecard of a player who’s done just about everything else for the Spartans, especially this season.

“I just try to have fun out there,” Eckley said. “At the end of the day, we’re playing a kids’ game, and you want to have fun with it.”

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