Michigan State extends Mark Dantonio’s contract amid NCAA investigation

Michigan State’s board of trustees authorized an annual contract extension for head football coach Mark Dantonio at a meeting on Friday.

Dantonio’s contract with the university says the term of his deal extends by one year, every year, unless the school gives Dantonio written notice by mid-January that it won’t make that extension. If the school decided not to extend Dantonio’s contract by a year, he’d have the option to resign and take an $875,000 payout.

At base, Dantonio’s agreement with the school is for six years. This extension puts him under contract with the Spartans through the 2023 season.

The NCAA said in late January that it would investigate whether the school committed any rules violations related to sexual assaults by Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics sports doctor recently sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. It’s not clear if the investigation will reach the football program specifically.

ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported Feb. 1 that at least 16 of Dantonio’s MSU football players have faced allegations of sexual assault or violence against women since 2007, the coach’s first year in East Lansing. In the summer of 2016, Dantonio had called it “new ground for us” after it became public that a group of players had been accused of sexual assault. After three were charged, Dantonio dismissed them from the team.

Michigan State’s interim university president, John Engler, called the ESPN report a “sensationalized package.” Trustees moved quickly to renew Dantonio’s deal:

At a brief press conference after the OTL report came out, Dantonio denied rumors that he planned to resign. He defended his program’s handling of allegations against players:

“Every incident reported in that article was documented by either police or the Michigan State Title IX office,” Dantonio said. “I have always worked with the proper authorities when dealing with cases of sexual assault.”

In 2017, a commissioned law firm found Dantonio correctly handled allegations against three players, who were later charged and booted from the program.

The school’s athletic director, Mark Hollis, announced his retirement hours before Dantonio spoke. Days before that, university president Lou Anna Simon stepped down. Michigan State still hasn’t hired permanent replacements for either Simon or Hollis.

Dantonio, 61, is slated to coach his 12th season at MSU this fall.