Published Feb 16, 2018
Dantonio gets annual extension, Engler rips ESPN again
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Jim Comparoni  •  Spartans Illustrated
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Interim Michigan State University president John Engler used Friday’s annual extension of Mark Dantonio’s rolling contract as an opportunity to voice support for the Spartan football coach and take another shot at ESPN.

Dantonio’s annual one-year extension was approved unanimously by Michigan State’s Board of Trustees, Friday.

Dantonio is in his 12th year as head coach at Michigan State. He signed a six-year contract in 2016 worth $4.3 million per year. The rolling contract renews annually with a $700,000 annual retention bonus.

The extension will keep Dantonio under contract through mid-January of 2024.

Dantonio has a 100-45 record at Michigan State and has led Michigan State to three Big Ten Championships and wins in the Rose Bowl (2013 season) and Cotton Bowl (2014). He led Michigan State to a 10-3 record in 2017 and a victory over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.

According to a report by MLive.com, interim athletic director Bill Beekman said there was no discussion of Dantonio’s contract not being extended.

Dantonio, Tom Izzo and the Michigan State athletic department have been accused of fostering a pattern of denial and inaction in relation to sexual assault, as a result of a series of reports by ESPN. Dantonio has denied those claims, and Engler voiced strong support for Dantonio in that area on Friday while also taking shots at ESPN's credibility.

On Friday, Engler referred to Dantonio as “one of most honorable coaches, I think, in the country," according to Mlive.com.

Dantonio answered ESPN’s investigative report on Jan. 26 by saying: “Any accusations of my handling of any complaints of sexual assault individually are completely false. Every incident reported in that article was documented by either police or the Michigan State Title IX office. I have always worked with the proper authorities when dealing with cases of sexual assault."

On Friday, Engler cited Dantonio’s “textbook” handling of sexual assault allegations against Josh King, Demetric Vance and Donnie Corley in January of 2017, their suspensions, and eventual dismissal after charges were brought against them in June.

A 2017 external investigation by law firm Jones Day into MSU’s handling of the King/Vance/Corley case, revealed that Dantonio attempted to contact MSU’s Title IX office within five minutes of learning about the situation, and was able to report it within 12 minutes.

Jones Day also determined that Dantonio “took prompt action” in handling a separate case involving former player Auston Robertson.

“That’s a great tribute to him (Dantonio), because that’s the kind of man he is,” Engler said. “That’s the integrity he has.”

Dantonio’s handling of those cases was not cited in ESPN’s reports.

“He did exactly what you’re supposed to do,” Engler told Mlive.com.

In an open letter addressed “To the MSU campus community” on Tuesday, Engler voiced words of support for Dantonio and Izzo and criticized ESPN’s report for creating a promotional graphic of Dantonio and Izzo with convicted MSU sports doctor, Larry Nassar:

“This (ESPN's report) was a sensationalized package of reporting that contained allegations and insinuations that we are now reviewing,” Engler said in the letter. “The coaches were asked to refrain from comment while the reports were examined. That has been a burden that must be lifted. I hope that MSU can soon respond in full and affirm the integrity and probity that has been the hallmark of these two respected coaches.”

Dantonio has not spoken on the matter since Jan. 26.

Izzo briefly said on Tuesday night after MSU’s basketball game against Minnesota that he “Only saw a little bit of (Engler’s letter), but the part I saw, I agreed with what he said.”

After basketball practice on Thursday evening, Izzo was asked if he received an internal email from former director of athletics Mark Hollis, which also criticized ESPN. Izzo said he had not yet seen it and didn’t comment on it.

In the letter, which was addressed to “Athletic Department Staff,” and was forwarded to several news organizations, Hollis said, among other things, “I can state with certainty that there were inaccurate, incomplete and misleading statements made and then reported by ESPN.”

Engler’s comments on Friday mark the third time in three days that he or Hollis have taken a shot at ESPN.

On Friday morning, ESPN released an article naming a freshman walk-on basketball player as being under investigation for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct since the start of fall semester. The accusation stems from an alleged groping incident in August, according to an unnamed source speaking with ESPN’s Outside The Lines. ESPN reported that Ingham County prosecutors are investigating the allegation.

ESPN writer Paula Lavigne violated ESPN’s publicly-stated “Editorial Guidelines for Standards & Practices” by revealing the name of an uncharged news subject.


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Engler criticized ESPN’s report.

"There was a leaked report that ESPN reported on," Engler told MLive.com, "but I think, unfortunately like their other reporting, it's incomplete.

"The sad thing is, I think we should, probably as a Michigan State community, apologize to this young man and his family who has been named without, at least in that report, any evidence of any wrongdoing," Engler told MLive.com. "There was a report of allegations, but let's say, at the end of the day, (if) there's nothing there, where does he go? A lot of people now have read this and (might say) 'What went on with you?' His name should not have been public because ... the investigation might still be going on.

"That's one of the difficulties in dealing with this. A reporter can take something that's leaked, put her spin on it, and run with it, especially from a news media that's frankly struggling. That's a great way to be sensationalistic."

In the ESPN report, former MSU sexual assault counselor Lauren Allswede said this about MSU's handling of sexual assault allegations: "Whatever protocol or policy was in place, whatever front-line staff might normally be involved in response or investigation, it all got kind of swept away, and it was handled more by administration [and] athletic department officials. It was all happening behind closed doors. None of it was transparent or included people who would normally be involved in certain decisions."

Allswede described MSU has having a "rape culture."

Allswede acknowledges that she has never met or spoken with Izzo or Dantonio.

Dantonio says he has handled all allegations correctly and with sympathy for the accusers.

During a June 9 press conference after charges were brought against Corley, Vance and King, Dantonio acknowledged problems in the past, and said:

“(I) share my deep concern for the young woman affected, and her family, by this situation."

In his opening statement on June 9, Dantonio said:

“Sexual assault has no place in this community. I have had two daughters that have gone to school here and I understand the importance that last statement has in their lives and the lives of so many others here at Michigan State. I want to share my deep concern for the young woman affected and her family by this situation.

“This is and has been an extremely challenging situation that we have taken very seriously throughout the entire process. It has affected everyone in this program, top to bottom. From the people that cover this, to our athletic director, our president, our board of trustees to our coaches, our players, everybody. To the families.

“The high standards I have established for this program will not change the values that we teach to everyone in this program will be enforced. And I expect all of our players and staff to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the ideals of this university.

“I feel like today is an end point in some respects for us in some ways. It’s a new beginning for some of us. So we need to take advantage of that. We will get back to business as usual.

“Quite frankly, there has been numerous amount of education thrown at our players, especially our freshman group, from the time that they’ve gotten here. One week before the (alleged assault), we had our Title IX administrator come in and talk specifically about a case at another university in this country. So the education, I felt, was there. And they compromised themselves by getting involved in such a situation.

“We’ve got a lot of great young men on our football team, a lot of young people that are doing many things in our community, a lot of guys who do an outstanding job in the classroom, on the football field and off the field. So we need to reaffirm those things.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of success here on the football field. I would say educationally as well, we graduate 85 percent of our guys that exhaust their eligibility. We’ve not had problems.

“Last year if you came up here to talk we were probably on the cusp of being exactly what you want in a major college football [program]. But one year has changed a lot of that. So now we have to deal with that aspect of our program and we have to change it back.

“We need to go come back with a sense of direction, a sense of purpose and those types of things.

“I need to challenge myself as the new coach and look at things in different ways and do some different things,” he said on June 9. “That’s going to happen. When you have a tough year that’s going to happen. I wish I could say everybody (experiences) a tough year, maybe they don’t. More often than not they do.”