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Dantonio promotes Roushar to offensive coordinator

EAST LANSING - Michigan State announced Tuesday night that head football coach Mark Dantonio has named Dan Roushar offensive coordinator.
Roushar has served as MSU's offensive line coach under Dantonio for four years, and held that post for two years under Dantonio at the University of Cincinnati (2005-06).
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Roushar replaces Don Treadwell, who accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 31.
Prior to joining Dantonio at Cincinnati, Roushar served as offensive coordinator at Illinois in 2004 during a two-year stint with the Illini. Roushar coached running backs at Illinois in '03 before adding offensive coordinator duties in '04.
"I think he (Roushar) brings a wealth of knowledge to the position," Dantonio said in a video statement on Tuesday night. "He's been with us now for six years.
"I think when you make a decision like this you have to look beyond just the individual here as well. You have to look to your players, the chemistry that we've created here among our staff, also the chemistry of our football team and our players. You have to look at the terminology and the things we've done and you want to try and keep things as much the same as you can for our players so that they can continue to play fast.
"In Coach Roush I just felt like he's done this in the Big Ten level. He's coached a multitude of positions. He's coached the offensive line, he's coached the tight ends, the quarterbacks, the running backs, so he's got an overall great sense of what we're trying to do. He's very well organized. I think there will continue to be good chemistry in that room, which will be important and he's shown leadership in many ways for our offensive line. I think all of our coaches have shown a great deal of leadership throughout this entire process, especially this past year.
"But it's time now for him to be able to move into more of a position I think of authority and grow in that area again."
Roushar spent six years as offensive line coach at Northern Illinois (1997-2002), where he also served as the offensive coordinator for the final five seasons. While at NIU, the Huskies earned a share of back-to-back Mid-American Conference West Division titles in 2001 and 2002. In his six years at NIU, his offenses produced four 1,000-yard rushers, including Michael Turner who finished second in the NCAA in rushing in 2002 while averaging 159.6 yards per game.
In 2000, the Huskies ranked among the national leaders in rushing offense (No. 12 at 228.1 ypg.), total offense (No. 19 at 427.8 ypg.) and scoring offense (No. 12 at 37.2 points per game).
"It's a great opportunity, looking forward to it," Roushar said. "But I certainly have been a coordinator at a couple other spots and I think that will make the transition smooth.
"To have the staff intact, certainly (we've) got to replace Coach Treadwell and we'll get a great candidate that will come in a do a heck of a job, so that makes it really nice. And certainly knowing the kids. We've all got a real good idea about who they are and what they do very well and what they need to work on. I think it's going to move us right forward very quickly and I'm looking forward to it.
"I don't see us doing a lot of things different with our offense. We hope to continue to run it well, and also see if we can improve in areas. It's a system we’ve now been in for seven years. We want to make it better and refine it, while playing to the strengths of our personnel. We have a running back corps that's very solid, very deep; there will be a lot of competition there. We have receivers that can make plays. We have some talented tight ends, and we'll have to put the line back together. I think we have a lot of pieces to work with. Certainly you have a veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins and a guy right behind him (Andrew Maxwell) that's awfully talented. We feel very good about our offense for this upcoming season.
"I don't see us doing a lot of things different with our offense. We hope to continue to run it well, and also see if we can improve in areas. It's a system we've now been in for seven years. We want to make it better and refine it, while playing to the strengths of our personnel. We have a running back corps that's very solid, very deep; there will be a lot of competition there. We have receivers that can make plays. We have some talented tight ends, and we'll have to put the line back together. I think we have a lot of pieces to work with. Certainly you have a veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins and a guy right behind him (Andrew Maxwell) that's awfully talented. We feel very good about our offense for this upcoming season."
Staten Promoted To O-Line Coach
Mark Staten has been promoted to succeed Roushar as offensive line coach. Staten worked as tight ends and tackles coach, under Roushar, at MSU and Cincinnati.
"Mark Staten has worked alongside Dan Roushar for the last six years, so Mark's transition into an expanded role should be a smooth one," Dantonio said in a statement released by MSU.
Running backs coach Brad Salem will take over as MSU's new recruiting coordinator, replacing Staten.
"Brad Salem's experience as a college head coach and his previous history at Michigan State will prove invaluable in his new role as recruiting coordinator," Dantonio said. "His extremely innovative approach to recruiting will serve us well in 2011 and beyond."
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