MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio has been rewarded with a new contract, the school announced Saturday in a joint statement from MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis.
“This agreement doesn’t mark a significant increase in compensation; rather it provides security and comfort for the Dantonio family,” Hollis said in a written statement. “It also provides East Lansing and Michigan State University with people of great character and integrity. (MSU men’s basketball head coach) Tom Izzo coined the phrase, ‘A Spartan for Life.’ The membership and commitment to that special club has just increased by one, coach Mark Dantonio and his family.”
Dantonio, who has led MSU to 15 wins in its last 18 games and a Big Ten Championship last season, will get a $32,000 boost in his base salary and some bonus incentives, although the contract length remains the same at five years.
The performance-based incentives include $100,000 for winning the new Big Ten Championship Game and the payout of his $2 million contingent bonus has been bumped up two years — from 2016 to 2014.
The head coach also has the option to work for the Athletics Department for two years following his retirement from coaching.
“With this agreement, MSU has assured itself with a bright future,” Hollis said. “We have a coach that cares about the life of every student-athlete that has every played for the Green and White. We have a coach that believes in the traditions and values of (MSU). We have a coach that is a teacher, a motivator, a friend, and a leader… We have a coach that I would want my children to learn from.”
Dantonio said the new contract signifies his loyalty he has to the MSU program.
“The university has certainly made a commitment to provide all of the necessary tools to continue to build and sustain a championship-caliber program, and I’ve made a long-term commitment to be the head coach at Michigan State,” Dantonio said.
“This new contract expresses the loyalty that I have to our current student-athletes and their families and sends a clear message to current and future recruits that I will be their head coach at Michigan State. It also lets Spartan Nation know that I deeply appreciate their loyal support and that I’m here for the long haul.”
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