During the Mark Dantonio era, the Hall of Fame head coach fielded several future NFL starters and Michigan State became a hotbed for pro talent while he was in charge.
Unfortunately, near the end of his coaching career, Dantonio kind of let his offense go by the wayside while the defense continued to flourish. He had some of the best defenses in college football despite barely sneaking into bowl games in 2018 and 2019 and missing one completely in 2016 — we won’t talk about that nightmare of a season right now.
Some defenders from those forgettable seasons ended up making the NFL leap and it wasn’t surprising to see them have success in the league…