The day after Michigan State lost its season finale at Penn State, Mark Dantonio drove to Cincinnati. During the nearly five-hour trip, he turned the radio off and sat in silence. A little while later, he drove another two hours to Columbus and did the same thing.
That time alone, free of distractions, gave Dantonio a chance to think. To reflect on all that went wrong with the Spartans' 3-9 season. And most importantly, how he could help his program avoid a repeat of that debacle.
"I've taken the approach of, 'Hey, I'm a new coach coming in here, I'm going to fix the things that other guy did last year,'" Dantonio said in a news conference Thursday.
Michigan State's collapse this year was stunning. The Spartans were coming off a College Football Playoff appearance, had claimed two of the previous three Big Ten titles and had won at least 11 games in five of the previous six seasons. A fall like that can't be pinned on just one thing. In fact, Dantonio said he compiled a list of 15 reasons for the team's struggles.
Among those he shared included turnover margin (the Spartans were minus-5 on the season, a year after leading the Big Ten at plus-14), offensive failures in the red zone, the lack of defensive pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and the inability to make big plays downfield on both sides of the ball.
Those were some of the tangible items. Dantonio is a big believer that good teams are led by seniors -- he pointed to Michigan's success this season with its large senior class -- and many of the Spartans' most experienced veterans didn't have great seasons. That included captains such as quarterback Tyler O'Connor and linebacker Riley Bullough, whom Dantonio revealed missed three games this year with a broken scapula. The team's best player, Malik McDowell, missed several games down the stretch with an injury and had an up-and-down season before turning pro.
"To be a leader," Dantonio said, "you've got to be productive."
Those looking for big changes as a result of the 3-9 season won't find them in the coaching staff. Dantonio, who is incredibly loyal to his assistants, won't alter any roles and bring in any new coaches for 2017.
"It's the same staff we won the Big Ten championship that everybody was celebrating last year," he said. "It's the same staff that won the Rose Bowl, basically, the same staff that went to the Cotton Bowl that had record-setting numbers in '14, et cetera, et cetera."
Dantonio and his staff are usually busy preparing for a bowl game this time of year. Instead, he said, they'll focus on identifying leaders for next year and self-scouting their own personnel -- things they normally do in February.
Quarterback, of course, will be a key spot. Brian Lewerke, who showed some promise as a redshirt freshman before missing the final four games with a broken leg, "has done enough to warrant him being the guy to beat out" for'17, Dantonio said. He'll get pushed in the offseason by senior Damion Terry, who Dantonio said had minor knee surgery last summer, and redshirt freshman Messiah deWeaver.
The Spartans played nine true freshmen in 2016, the highest number in the Dantonio era. Dantonio pointed to wide receiver Donnie Corley and defensive back Justin Layne as being potentially "phenomenal" players.
Dantonio has experienced a ton of success at Michigan State, so he's not going to create a major upheaval in the way he does things. But the 2016 season showed that nothing is guaranteed.
"We are where we're at," he said. "We've taken a step back. Now what's very important to me is that we put our foot in the ground and drive forward, and that's what we will do."
