http://www.freep.com/article/20090729/SPORTS18/907290363/1049/rss14 Michigan State's Mark Dantonio: No more Mr. Nice Guy? BY STEVE SCHRADER • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • July 29, 2009 Where do they say nice guys finish? Not third in the Big Ten football coaches' preseason poll, eh, Sparty? CBSsports.com's Gregg Doyel credits what he sees as Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio's newfound mean streak, like his war of words with Michigan: "Frankly, I think the Michigan State job has changed him," Doyel writes. "For the better. It has made Dantonio more ambitious. More cunning. And the rivalry with Michigan has made him more volatile. He doesn't have any of those qualities in abundance -- he's still as decent a man as you'll find in college football -- but he has just enough of those darker qualities to lift Michigan State into the upper level of college football. ... "A pebble in Michigan's shoe? He wants to be a rock upside the head, and he'll have to be. MSU is basically a basketball school in a football league, and it is definitely Michigan's little brother. Overcoming both of those won't be easy. ... "Only a coach with a little bit of malice in his heart could make it happen. Turns out, Michigan State has just such a coach." Maybe. But Rich Rodriguez is no pushover either, so it could get interesting.
