The Pride Comes Before the Fall

That was the famous line that Mark Dantonio said after Mike Hart dropped the "little brother" label on the Spartans Football team.


That one "label" has motivated Mark and his program ever since and the Spartans have played some good football over a 5 year period or more.    Mark had one of his best coaching performances this past season as MSU was expected to be a dumpster fire and played Top 25 football all year.  


Then ESPN rolled out it's 3 year investigation into both Dantonio's and Izzo's program.  When I first heard of it this week, I figured it was about Larry Nassar and his crimes.  It wasn't, the story was about the years of sexual abuse by Spartan Football and Basketball players.


MSU's President and AD have already resigned due to this report and the Nassar trial.  The question now remains is Izzo and Dantonio next?


Both coaches had different but similar reactions to the ESPN story.   Both men have been clearly prepped by legal not to discuss details in a press conferences.  Their body language is where they are different.  Izzo looks like a beaten man who is clearly showing the stress of the situation and a potential loss of employment.  Dantonio like I imagine a lot of things in his life, took a stiff upper lip and denied any wrong doing.  One man looked like he understood the severity of the situation, the other looked a bit "tone deaf".


Both coaches are the best MSU has ever had in role.  Izzo is a basketball coaching legend and Dantonio has won in a place that Nick Saban couldn't.  To fire them both would be a huge decision that the leadership in East Lansing will have to make.   Neither coach wants to retire but history is not on their side.   Whether you look at Penn State or Baylor, cleaning house is almost mandatory when  changing a toxic environment.  


But did they know?  Or did they conspire to hide the information, so their players could play?  It really doesn't matter, because they should have known.  That is what it means to be a leader.  A CEO whose company that had a massive data breech that cost share holders millions, has to step down.  Not because he/she is a cyber security expert or could have predicted such a bad event.  It's because it happened on their watch and the captain goes down with the ship. 


Is it possible that both men make it through this?  It's possible as these guys are legends in East Lansing.   On the other hand, so was Joe Paterno and Art Briles. 


I actually feel bad writing this story, because if these two guys keep their high paying jobs is no where near as important as what happened to those women and their families.   MSU needs to do the right thing and change their culture and do what they can for the victims. 


As Michigan fans we sometimes struggle with Harbaugh and Beilein not winning enough.   We might want to ask another question, are these man coaching with honesty and respect that the students of the University of Michigan deserve?  We see this situation at MSU and Michigan Basketball losing a National Championship to a Louisville, a team that probably will lose that title due to all their issues. 


If the answer is yes to the above question, then maybe doing things with respect and honor is as or more important then wins and loses. 













from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-pride-comes-before-fall.html