But that wouldn’t make it a good job it would make him a good coach. Good coaching jobs bring with them inherent benefits. Regional benefits, Fertile recruiting area, lack of competition (both on the field and in recruiting), resources, etc. MSU has none of those.
Not sure what you would categorize as one of the better jobs in the country, top 25? I would disagree, if that’s the case. Again, recent success by one coach is not a good way to judge this. Even Dantonio himself couldn’t keep the program ascending on his way out. Recruiting, down. Results on the field, down.
I'm not denying that Dantonio is one of the better coaches in the past decade+ because he's certainly in the minority when it comes to sustaining success in East Lansing. BUT, a lot of his success in the beginning coincided with the downfall of scUM, particularly the hiring of Rich Rod, who turned his back to in-state recruiting to try and build a massive pipeline in the south. He wanted that GA, FL, TX speed to fit his spread offense, and he had nominal success. Meanwhile, Dantonio knocks on doors throughout Michigan, and they pass up scUM. Icing on the cake was actually hiring Brady Hoke, which still seems make believe but it happened.
To the bolded, he had a great run between 2010 - 2015, won some B1G titles, Rose Bowl, made the CFP, but he also had some serious bad press while he was on campus. He brought some bad eggs into his program and his success kept him around. Couple that with the whole Nadler situation, I have a feeling he was told to curve the character of his recruits. The run ended. And he is notoriously complacent at hiring his cronies, something we all got on BK for up until the 2016 debacle.
I don't think this story is over. He fired his recruiting coordinator a short while ago, who lawyered up and accused Dantonio of recruiting violations, and them a sudden retirement. The timing is weird.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com...s-lawsuit-michigan-state-football/4658226002/
That gets announced yesterday, retirement announcement hours later.