Mark Dantonio to Speak at Michigan State Spring Commencement on Friday

Mark Dantonio, Michigan State football's all-time winningest head coach, will address spring graduates on Friday.

One of Michigan State athletics' most iconic figures will have a big part in spring graduation this week.

Michigan State football's all-time winningest head coach and College Football Hall of Fame electee Mark Dantonio will address Spartan graduates at the Spring Convocation at 1 p.m. on Friday, the university announced on Friday, April 19.

“I’m incredibly grateful to President Guskiewicz for the opportunity to speak to the class of 2024. Many of the key components that went into building a championship football program are also great life lessons,” Dantonio said. “I look forward to sharing them with the graduating class and challenging them to dream big.”

Dantonio served as the Spartans' head coach for 16 seasons, leading the program to a College Football Playoff appearance, a victory in the 2013-14 Rose Bowl and three Big Ten titles.

He ultimately led the Spartans to 11 winning seasons, including six seasons with 10 or more victories.

Dantonio is renowned as one of the program's greatest coaches of all time, as not only did he produce many years of winning football, but he came in and changed the narrative of what had originally been a losing program since the departure of legendary college football coach Nick Saban.

Before his stints as head coach at Cincinnati and defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Dantonio had served as the Spartans' defensive backs coach from 1995 to 2000. Dantonio and Michigan State appeared in four bowl games in five seasons under Saban. Dantonio would go toe-to-toe with Saban in the second annual College Football Playoff, where Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide pummeled Dantonio's Spartans 38-0 in the 2015 Cotton Bowl.

Dantonio was recently elected to the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

The legendary Spartans coach will also receive an honorary doctorate of education this week.

Other speakers include April Globes, president and chief executive officer of MSU Federal Credit Union, who will address graduates at 9 a.m. on Friday, and Bolaji Balogun, chief executive officer of Chapel Hill Denham, chiefs investment officer of the Nigerian infrastructure Dept Fund and co-founder and director of Econet Wireless Nigeria, who will address doctoral candidates at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Michigan State's 2024 spring commencement ceremonies will take place at the Breslin Student Events Center.

More than 9,000 students will be graduating.

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