Michigan State AD: Mark Dantonio firing ‘not even a discussion’

For the third time in the last four years under Mark Dantonio, the Michigan State football program is treading water. It has raised some question whether Dantonio’s job is safe, but according to athletic director Bill Beekman, that’s not even a question.

Beekman was adamant that Dantonio would remain the coach into 2020 despite his recent struggles.

“That is not even a discussion,” Beekman said, via Mark Johnson of the Lansing State Journal. “Mark’s our head coach, there’s no question about that.”

Since making a maiden trip to the College Football Playoff in 2015, the Spartans are 26-22. 10 of those wins came in a successful 2017 campaign. The 2019 season is shaping up to be another lost cause, with the Spartans losing three in a row after a 4-1 start, having been outscored 100-17 by Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Penn State. Dantonio has also been named in cover-up allegations about the sexual assault scandals that have rocked the school for the last several years, and is a defendant in a federal lawsuit alleging wrongful termination of an assistant.

Ultimately, Dantonio is the winningest football coach in school history and has three Big Ten titles to his name. That’s brought him significant goodwill at the university, and it will probably take more than a couple mediocre seasons for this to become a realistic question.