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Coach has heart attack after huge win

By AP 20/09/2010 18:17:00

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Mark Dantonio was all smiles after his Spartans beat Notre Dame, but it wasn't long before he was in surgery.

Mark Dantonio should’ve been basking in the thrill of his field-goal-faking/overtime-touchdown-making/Notre Dame-beating decision. The gutsy play call Saturday night was one more step in the construction of the Michigan State football program.

Instead he sat in a Spartan Stadium locker room, not an hour after the 34-31 victory, and told people he felt horrible. No one doubted him because he looked even worse.

By about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the 54-year-old was having surgery to put a stent in a blocked vessel that leads to the heart. It’s the latest bit of unexpected adversity for a program that by now should be used to dealing with it.
Spartans' gutsy call

The good news is, Dantonio is expected to make a full recovery. “Damage to the heart was minimal,” Dr. Chris D’Haem said. If there is such a thing as a “minor” heart attack, this apparently was it. Dantonio won’t coach this week and no one can say when he’ll return to work. Considering the stress of being a college football coach, it shouldn’t be rushed.
Mark Dantonio was all smiles after his Spartans beat Notre Dame, but it wasn't long before he was in surgery.
(Al Goldis/AP Photo)

You can understand why Dantonio would push to get back, though. Here in his fourth season, a program that seemingly has tread water forever appears on the verge of living up to its considerable potential.

The Spartans are 3-0 and broke into the Associated Press poll at No. 25 this week. The Notre Dame victory was so exciting it felt like more than just another win over the Irish. It was a milestone or a cornerstone or something that might, just might, be carried forward.

The meat of the schedule is coming fast, a visit by Wisconsin (Oct. 2), then a trip to archrival Michigan (Oct. 9). If State ever could just keep pushing – not yo-yo-ing through the season – there might, at last, be something here.

State has all the tools to be a powerful football program. The facilities are top notch. The budget is elite. Passionate fans pack the stadium year after year despite mediocre results. It’s a strong academic school in an area loaded with major media markets and great high school talent.

It’s just been looking for the right coach – or at least the right one who will stick around (Nick Saban) for long enough to see the plan through. Michigan State should compete for the Big Ten on a semi-regular basis. It may never be the national juggernaut of Ohio State, but it shouldn’t have just one Rose Bowl appearance (1988) in 41 years. To the frustration of a fan base that deserves better, this is an Alamo Bowl kind of program.

Then along came Dantonio and his no-quit, in-your-face, this-is-going-to-happen attitude. The rise hasn’t been without setbacks – last year’s 6-7 campaign was best remembered for a rash of suspensions, many stemming from a fight at a fraternity pot luck dinner that included players donning ski masks prior to the brawl.

Still, there’s little doubt Dantonio offers a steady hand to a program desperate for it. If nothing else, he believes in the capabilities of the place, unwilling to take a backseat to anyone – on the field, in the newspapers and on the recruiting trail.

When then-Michigan running back Mike Hart dismissed the Spartans as “little brother” after a 2007 Wolverine victory, Dantonio shot back that “the pride comes before the fall.” It became a call to arms, fans were thrilled they had a coach unwilling to concede to Michigan. The Spartans have gone on to win the last two meetings.

Just as impressively, Dantonio has gone out and landed some of the best recruits in the Midwest. That includes five-star players from the traditional Wolverine stronghold of Detroit: current freshman defensive lineman William Gholston and linebacker Lawrence Thomas, the state’s top-rated senior.

So here it was, possibly coming together. With Northern Colorado on tap, State was set to enter the critical stretch at 4-0 and riding high. They have talent. They have hunger. They have momentum. They have a coach confident enough to call a make-or-break fake field goal in overtime.

And now, well, who knows? Athletic director Mark Hollis said the news put everyone in “a state of shock.”

Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will run the team in Dantonio’s absence. How the players respond is anyone’s guess. It could rally them to inspired play. It could suck wind out of the program’s sails.

Given everyone’s choice though, Dantonio is on that sideline. He’s a fighter in the school’s image. He isn’t focused on what he doesn’t have or what the program hasn’t been. He sees – and sells – what makes Michigan State special. He won’t stop coming until potential is met. It’s that mind-set that no doubt contributed to the heart attack.

Now he’s said to be resting comfortably, his health suddenly his focus. He’ll be back, but who knows when?

For Michigan State, it’s another surprise hurdle on the path to its potential. The Spartans are still capable of making the leap over the next few weeks. Barring a very quick return, though, they’ll have to do it without the coach who made them believe it was possible in the first place.