Mark Dantonio gets asked a Harbaugh khaki question at his bowl press conference
Delightful video-the question begins at about the 6:57 mark, and 90 seconds of video gold ensues. The fact that Mike Leach is there to add his comments only make it better. Even I will concede the question is totally out of line and ridiculous-but it's still delicious.
* I may get negged for this, and that's fine. It's so cringeworthy that some will find it worthwhile.
http://thebiglead.com/2017/12/14/video-mark-dantonio-passes-on-jim-harb…
December 15th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
Fair enough. But we were talking about the recent history of the 2017 season, which eventually exposed MSU despite their record. Sour grapes and all, but if Brandon Peters merely takes the snaps against State - with a primitive playbook - we're winning that game by 3 or 4 points instead of losing by 4.
December 15th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
Great coach.
Dick.
Great coach.
Dick.
Yep, dick.
He did get punked on that interview question, though. That was wrong.
December 15th, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
It pains me to admit it but I've been of the mindset the last few years that Dantonio is one of the best coaches in the country. Especially considering the level of talent he has to work with. Finds diamonds in the rough on the recruiting trail every single year, and save for last year's disaster, his team constantly wins games it should not win. It's happened enough times to where it's not luck, it's just great coaching and knowing how to best put his players in a position to succeed. I think he can develop players better than any coach in the Big Ten. Even better than Meyer.
It's easier for Saban and Meyer to do what they do because every five star in the country gets in line to play for them. Dantonio gets maybe 15-20% of the talent on his roster that those two get, but still wins big. I've always wondered how he would do if he became a HC at a school with the resources than a Michigan, OSU or Alabama has.
He's a smug, lifeless prick to be certain. But it's hard for me to blame him for being that way when he's dominated a Michigan program that had historically beaten up on MSU over and over before he got there. I will not miss that guy whenever he decides to retire.
December 15th, 2017 at 9:34 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
Holy smokes that was awful. Cuts Dantonion off from answering a question about playoff systems, to ask about Harbaugh's pants. I'm cryin' here.
That said, I thought Dantonion did a good job not taking the bait.
December 15th, 2017 at 9:40 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:41 AM ^
I just do not understand a lot of the questions that are asked by the media now. As entertaining as that was, why do they have to stir the pot? Be an intelligent person and come up with a real question.
December 15th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
It was an absurd question. Leach was funnier but what else was Dantonio to say really?
December 15th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
This. He kind of brings it on himself when he does stuff like make posters, taunt the crowd and bring up Michigan (unsolicited) when they get their bowl bids.
December 15th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
telling my 9 year old that but it only made the teasing worse. After that I did what any responsible parent would do. I told him to call their mom fat, ask when their dad is going to find work, or to just throw a tater tot at them. I will report back.
December 16th, 2017 at 7:56 AM ^
I filter my response through her now....
December 15th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:45 AM ^
He and his teams are very entertaining.
December 15th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
and will.
Punt drop return for TD and winning the turnover battle 5-0 in a winter monsoon is not a long term strategy for gameday victory for the long haul.
Luck is not a strategy...Talent gap will prevail. Expect us to win 4 out of every 5 or so going forward so long as Harbaugh is around...(despite respekt, it's their superbowl, "they want it more", etc, etc).
December 15th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
temperature reached nearly 85 degrees the day we played MSU. It was a near monsoon, but not at all a winter one. It was sweltering during the day, because I was sweating my ass off at the Cider Mill.
December 15th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^
The talent gap will prevail? Then why has MSU regularly beaten far more talented OSU teams? Yes, MSU doesn't have the pure talent that UM has, but they more than make up for it with excellent coaching. And they just play outside their minds when they play us. The talent gap really doesn't seem to matter when they line up opposite Michigan.
Honestly as long as Dantonio is at MSU I don't think it matters if he fields a starting lineup of nothing but walk-ons. We're in for dogfights.
December 15th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
puts Dantonnion in the shed
December 15th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
I'm going to wear some "ceremonial" khaki pants today. In my perfect world, Mike Leach becomes head coach of the Lions in three weeks.
December 15th, 2017 at 10:18 AM ^
but if we were 8-2 in last 10 years and had success state has had and harbaugh was getting asked dantonio questions all the time too, i'd be annoyed
until we beat state consistenly, this stuff doesn's really amuse me
December 15th, 2017 at 11:07 AM ^
is amusing, in part, because of how tone deaf the report is/was. I agree, the "disrespekt" angle isn't that amusing anymore, but my god Random-West-Coast-Reporter. Either a really bad misfire or a really good troll.
December 15th, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 10:28 AM ^
Yesterday. Even made me uncomfortable and I was hundreds of miles away from the press conference.
That's just a shit question to ask him. I know we all hate MSU, I get it. But the dude has earned enough respect with what he's done with that program to not have Harbaugh and khakis and all that stupid shit brought up in a game between MSU and WSU.
December 15th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
That entire interview was horrid. Whoever the local sports guy is, he's going to remain a local sports guy. Horrible! But Mick does owe Leach a beer for that save...
December 15th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
We just got to beat MSU next year and then Dantonio won't have a winning records verses Harbaugh and people can stop saying he owns Harbaugh *
*Disclaimer: I realize Dantonio would still have a very pretty record verse Michigan overall which you can't take away
December 15th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 11:06 AM ^
Cringeworthy on the part of the anchor. I actually wanted to hear Dantonio's take on the playoff.
December 15th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^
IF I was Dantonio I would reply that I already own two pairs of his khakis... that is the proper response.
jdon
December 15th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
I saw a loss where Michigan suffered a freak play and lost its MLB (worst of a host of bad calls), and this year one completed pass for a TD would have been enough to calm a bunch of people down. Glass half full for me.
December 15th, 2017 at 12:14 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
On an all-out punt block is not under his control? Running plays that literally took the smallest amount of time off the clock wasn't under his control?
Watching a running attack getting 4-5 yards a pop and then deciding to spread it out 5 wide in a ridiculous downpour is out of his control?
He had plenty of control and decision making in those losses. He's not invincible, not anymore, sorry.
December 15th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
deserves blame for the MSU game this year. Inadequate gameplan. Wrong personnel. Bad play-calling.
The kick-6 was not his fault. There are several ways that you can look at it or spin it to make it a coaching error, but that is only looking at it through the prism of what ended happening, which was one in a million even if the coach made every wrong decision possible. The worst possible outcome in that game without actual divine intervention is MSU having a feasible hail-mary or possible a 50 plus yard field goal attempt.
I know, gunners, not running outside, etc., yes, you can point at all of that and say "that is why that happened." But it isn't. That happened because God felt like it and for no other reason. Why? I don't know. Recent events would suggest that God is just not that much of a Michigan fan.
December 15th, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^
For those of us who are a little less religious, having extra people to help block would have changed the course of the play. Would it have prevented what happened? Who knows.
But you want to put your team in the best possible position to succeed, no matter at what point in the game. Having guys run up the field and not staying back took away from anything positive happening.
I get it, it was a freak play. But Harbaugh did his team no favors with that entire series of calls.
December 15th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
Even as a religious person, I don't think God cares too much about football games.
That said, Dantonio outcoached Harbaugh in 2016 even though we won. The fact that they were within 7 points with 10 seconds on the clock was one hell of a coaching job by him. Going for 2 was stupid, but it doesn't overshadow the coaching job he did for 59:50 of that game.
Additionally, I think the 2015 game was pretty even on the coaching battle. I do think it was stupid on Harbaugh's part to waste timeouts during the last offensive series instead of just having the QB snap the ball at 2 seconds. Especially if we were just going to run basic run plays. If we had some timeouts in our pocket maybe we could have adjusted the punt after seeing them going for the all out block. But considering how bad MSU had beaten us in 2013 and 2014 playing them to a virtual tie is very impressive.
2017 I think Dantonio called the game perfectly. With an 11 point lead you just play conservative and punt it away and let the other team make the mistakes. Which we did. Hard to outoach a guy who calls a perfect game, even if a bit of luck helps him out.
December 15th, 2017 at 6:12 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
December 16th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
December 16th, 2017 at 4:18 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
December 16th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
December 15th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
Harbaugh said he would prefer Dantonio kep Michigan out of his Bowl placement discussions. Dantonio listened and chose not to offer a remark. Perfectly fine by me. The reporter was horrid however. Should have gotten feedback from both coaches on the playoff system and he totally wiffed on how he brought up the pants. Should have just said how much they didn't sell for to get a quick response. Playing a guessing game was just stupid. Plus he left his California audience wondering?