Mark Dantonio Can No Longer Promise Playing Time To Recruits

There has been a fundamental change in East Lansing. Behind the scenes, over text messages, blogs and message boards, Spartan fans are scratching their heads wondering why Mark Dantonio doesn’t have a single commitment for the class of 2012.

Our neighbors are experiencing Hoke-a-mania (coined by Mike Valenti) reading articles about six Wolverine commitments already. The discomfort in the land of Sparta is justified. After all, until Dantonio arrived, MSU football was largely irrelevant for forty years.

The MSU football culture has changed. No more fourth quarter collapses. In fact, we stole a few in the 4th quarter last season. No more MAC level talent in the two-deep. No more players that are U-M leftovers. No inferiority complex to those Woodchucks 65 miles to the south and east. No embarrassing coaching meltdowns on the MSU sideline.

Those days are gone. This program is on very solid ground and MSU is entering a phase in the rebuilding process it has never seen. The word is selectivity.

The roles have reversed ladies and gentlemen. Michigan State is now recruiting only the elite talent that is out there. No more chances on kids with questionable character issues. No needles and pins when someone opts to play in Ann Arbor instead of East Lansing. Why, you might ask? There is another stud standing in line looking at an MSU scholarship offer and they are just as good as the kid that opted to play somewhere else.

I know there has been a little panic out there regarding the ground Michigan is making up in the state having gotten a couple of key Michigan kids already. This is going to happen. It will happen even more as MSU gets more selective. We are in uncharted territory and whenever you make a paradigm shift, it can be very uncomfortable.

Michigan State’s 2010 and 2011 classes are great kids with tons of potential. While the 2010 class ranked higher nationally, the consensus among the MSU coaching staff is that the 2011 class is better top to bottom. Michigan State has players in the two deep at many positions better than many starters they had on the roster when they arrived. MSU’s second stringers could beat the bottom third of the conference and be bowl eligible at the end of the season. We are not in a rush to load up on the kids we’ve recruited in the past.

Michigan State is in on almost every major recruit in the state of Ohio. MSU is in no rush. Much like the OSU formula, MSU is going after kids that are committed to playing as third year sophomores. This is how you build consistency. A good number of kids at the elite programs, especially lineman, never see the field until they are fourth year juniors. MSU is starting to amass this type of talent.

Michigan is going to get some players now that Hoke-a-mania is in full affect. We will challenge them head to head for a number of recruits, but know this, Michigan can promise playing time right away and MSU cannot. Need proof, look over their spring roster and then look over ours. We are going after the same kids that traditionally pick Ohio State, Florida and Michigan (when they were good). In order to permanently cement ourselves as an elite college football program, we have to get some of these kids. So while it feels uncomfortable and looks unfamiliar, it is exactly what Dantonio envisioned when he arrived. Near as I can tell he is ahead of the rebuilding schedule.