A Look at Next Year: Coaches

The final unit I want to look at in the “look at next year” series is the “coaching unit.”  Now that defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi is coming back, the likelihood that there will be changes in next year’s coaching staff are minimal.  In fact, the staff we had this year is pretty much the staff we’ll have next year.  Here’s the list of coaches:

Mark Dantonio - Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi - Defensive Coordinator

Dan Roushar - Offensive Coordinator

Harlon Barnett - Secondary

Ted Gill - Defensive Line

Brad Salem - Running Backs/Recruiting Coordinator

Terrence Samuel - Wide Receivers

Mark Staten - Offensive Line

Mike Tressel - Linebackers/Special Teams

Dave Warner - Quarterbacks

Tim Allen - Director of Football Operations

Dino Folino - Director of Personnel/Player Development

Tommy Hoke - Assoc. Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

Brad Lunsford - Director of Executive Football Operations

Ken Mannie - Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

Archie Collins - Graduate Assistant / Defense

Randy Gillon - Speed Coach

Of course, the big guy is back; Mark Dantonio is returning for his 6th season as head coach.  As I’ve said many times before, and I’ll say it again, MSU is beyond fortunate to have found Dantonio.  He is an elite coach who is willing to stay in East Lansing to build an elite program, even while he could be making tons more money elsewhere.  I once thought of Dantonio as MSU’s Barry Alvarez: a guy that would come in and win 9 games a year and lay the foundations so that the next guy could take the program to really elite status.  Well, I was wrong, and I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong.  Dantonio is no transition figure; he IS the elite coach, the guy that could win a national championship at MSU. 

Honestly, I pinch myself twice a day and like SNL Bears fans I wonder: “why are we so blessed?”  Could it be the heart attack that he suffered last year altered his plans?  Perhaps he intended to leave, but the heart attack made him wonder if he might only be coaching for another 5 to 7 years.  Why go somewhere else, if you only have 7 years of coaching left?  Folks, I don’t know the answer to such questions.  All I can tell you is that I hope Dantonio stays and coaches for another 10 years (though I have a strong hunch that he will probably only coach for 5 more years), and I hope that if another school ever tries to pull him away with more money, that MSU will come through with a counter offer that keeps him here the remainder of his career. 

Apart from Dantonio, we also know that the coordinators will both be back.  Pat Narduzzi will be back to lead the defense and consequently I am expecting a big year for the defense.  Narduzzi has clearly has come a long way, going from a guy who just the year before didn’t garner much attention (if anything, he garnered a fair share of complaints) to a guy who is now reportedly being offered three quarters of a million dollars to leave MSU and who will probably become a head coach by the end of the next season.   Anyway, unless his success was somehow connected to the success of Jerel Worthy and Trenton Robinson (and I don’t think that’s the case), I expect Narduzzi to have a great year. 

As for the offense, Dan Roushar should be back and I think he should end up being pretty good.  He seemed to experience some growing pains this year, and it probably didn’t help that the o-line struggled so much in the first half of the season.  The one issue that concerned me about Roushar was his inability to adapt to fast defenses.  Long after it became clear to a football novice like me that the Spartans would not be able to run outside the tackles on teams like Nebraska and Georgia, Roushar stuck stubbornly with runs to the outside.  He did seem to finally adapt in the second half of the Georgia game, but I wonder if Dantonio had something to do with that.  Anyway, if he can get over issues like that, and if the passing game doesn’t implode (considering that the Spartans are losing 90% of their passing game), Roushar should be pretty good next year.  He showed a lot of development and creativity throughout the season, especially in the B1G championship game. 

I won’t pretend to know much about the rest of the coaches, but I do want to single out two guys who seem to be doing an excellent job: Mike Tressel and Ken Mannie.  Mike Tressel is the linebackers and special teams coach, and while the special teams did pretty well this year, I’m most impressed with the development and play of the linebackers.  The linebacking unit was supposed to be decimated, losing All-American Greg Jones and veteran Eric Gordon.  But if anything, this year’s unit played at least as well and perhaps better.  I think it shows that Tressel is a pretty competent guy, and that might put him next in line to take over at defensive coordinator when Narduzzi leaves.

Ken Mannie is the head strength and conditioning coach and I think he’s a big part of why the Spartans are able to take so many low-rated recruits and turn them into NFL-level players.  Apparently, many other coaches have recognized Mannie’s talents.  Guys like Nick Saban and Jim Tressel tried to get Mannie to join their programs, but he has thankfully remained faithful to the Spartans. 

So that’s a quick summary of the coaching situation for next year.  We have continuity, and best of all, it is good continuity.  We’re not sitting here saying to ourselves, “gosh, I wish we could find someone else to take over that position.”  On the contrary, we are excited and thankful that everyone is coming back.