Perhaps the no. 1 reason for such tremendous success in recruiting

I think it's far from self-evident. Dantonio was an assistant at MSU under Saban for six seasons, and prior to that was a GA at OSU under Earle Bruce and an assistant at Youngstown State with Tressel, and later DC at OSU under Tressel. Dantonio has spent a huge portion of his coaching life at institutions that are rabidly anti-Michigan, and on top of that he's a close personal friend of Tressel's and admires him greatly:

http://spartannation.com/2010/07/04/jim-tressel-and-mark-dantonio-share-...

There is no evidence anywhere that indicates Mark Dantonio has any respect or regard for the University of Michigan, which is in direct contrast to Bo, who openly admitted that when he was young he admired Michigan, even though he'd grown up in Buckeye country.

Does this mean that Dantonio would have turned down the UM job if it had been offered to him? No, but that doesn't mean Dantonio was coveting the UM job and is bitter about not being considered. That's a huge leap on your part with no basis of support anywhere in Dantonio's record or statements that I can find. I have no doubt that he hates Michigan, but there is no evidence that that is a product of anything other than his coaching experience and his personality.

power, (some) prestige, future opportunities and lots of money may have something to do with it!

...We are Michigan fergodsakes. Direct quote from the Oracle of Ann Arbor.

EDIT:  My bad, didnt see two posts below this, didnt mean to steal their thunder. Damn Iphones.  Forward my mail to Bolivia.  Apologies.  

I think Dantonio's culture is too much We-Hate-Michigan and not enough MSU is a great place to play. It will work only if he finds a like-minded recruit.

Also, your quote attributed to Voltaire was never uttered or written by him. A popular misconception. Just trying to maintain the superior intellectual quality of this thread and blog.

Good point.  Michigan's not even competing head-to-head with State for most of the recruits, so to make the OP about Dantonio is rather silly.

FERGODSAKES!

Maybe at a few of the skill positions, but in the trenches we're doing as well or better than any of those schools. Doing well in the trenches allows you to completely roll inferior competition, which in our case equates to 10/11 win seasons. Once recruits see that, getting great skill position guys is sure to follow.

Hooray! Another meme that needs to die in a fire! First, when it comes to recruiting, lets be honest, it's #1: Alabama, #2 Everybody else. We're not going to match Bama I believe; as will no one else on a consistent basis. As for the rest of your statement, what data really backs up your opinion? There are complaints one can have with the last two classes on specific positions, like lack of top -shelf WR, but the last two classes have been deep with very solid talent. Scout has us as the #1 in the nation with 4 5 stars. ND was ranked below us pretty much everywhere last year. We're I'm the top 5 on 247's composite rankings. I just don't think these meme had a whole lot of merit to it. If you're expecting to become Alabama on recruiting, then well, I think you're going to be dissappointed. But we are NOT a step behind the others you listed.

Do you follow recruiting at all?  You might want to take a look before posting.

but I believe that for a brief period—basically defined by the RR era—MSU was in the position to start grabbing players, especially instate, that normally UM would have gotten. Whether Dantonio would have been able to truly capitalize on that opportunity over time we'll never know, but in any event Hoke's hiring effectively killed even the chance that MSU could put itself into an equal position recruiting-wise. If RR had been retained and we'd had another two or three disappointing years, who knows how MSU's recruiting might have gone. Kids want to play for a winner, even if the coach is a jackass.

It does seem to be the case that we are now back to the situation that has held since at least 1969, where UM routinely gets most of the best players instate, and holds its own in Ohio with OSU. It certainly doesn't hurt Michigan that we're not battling both MSU and OSU for the best Ohio kids; if Dantonio's personality was different, he'd be a better recruiter, and that wouldn't help us.

We are a fickle people

Basketball plays a role in football recruiting? This is demonstrably false, even in states that care about basketball more than football. Purdue and Notre Dame vs Indiana. Kansas State vs Kansas. NC State vs Duke and UNC. Louisville vs Kentucky. USC vs UCLA. All schools in close proximity and overall athletic dept revenues, whose football programs are more attractive to recruits despite having worse basketball programs.

Finally, an explanation for why Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, Duke, Syracuse, and Temple, have such strong football programs -- they clearly get their success from being the winningest basketball programs in the country!

A lot of interesting comments - some of which are influenced by a variety of other agendas.

Your point is exactly right. Bo and Woody were from a time when winning the kid's parents over was the most important thing and playing later on in the NFL was just an after thought. Charming mom and dad and assuring that their kid would get a good education and that someone would keep an eye on their lad were the big selling point. The coach as the ultimate loco parentis father figure was a major selling point back then.

Both of them (it could be confidently stated) would have pulled an offer from any kid who did a hat press conference thing. Neither really liked recruiting and would usually close the deal after a lot of leg work by their assistants. High school coaches I believe had longer tenures back then - so Bo and Woody could actually know the coaches of the top 25 big high school in Michigan and Ohio.

Today, some of the parents are the ones egging the kids on to think about which schools could help them get ready for the NFL. The role of non-traditional advisors also is huge now. There is now Twitter, Facebook, the Big Ten Network and the UM has its own video presence via the web and there are places like MGoBlog.com.

Different times, different styles and different methods!