By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
It will be like coming home for a pair of coaches.
Former Michigan State University assistant Mark Dantonio was named as the Spartans new head coach Monday afternoon.
Dantonio replaces John L. Smith, who was fired earlier in the season. Dantonio spent six years as an assistant coach in East Lansing.
Joining Dantonio on his staff will be former Dowagiac Union High School and Miami of Ohio standout Mark Staten. Staten has been an assistant on the University of Cincinnati staff under Dantonio since he took the job in 2004.
Dantonio and Staten worked together at Ohio State University for two years, including the 2002 season when the Buckeyes won the national championship.
Dantonio was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State, while Staten served as a graduate assistant.
Staten was the offensive tackle and tight ends coach at Cincinnati, where he also served as recruiting coordinator. It is unknown what position Staten will fill with the Spartans.
"I'm excited," Staten said in a telephone interview on Monday. "I'm going to be coming home. I am excited to get a chance to go to such a great university with such a great tradition."
Dantonio, 50, has done a tremendous job at Cincinnati. He has led the Bearcats to a 7-5 record this year, including an upset victory over then No. 7 ranked and unbeaten Rutgers.
Cincinnati is 4-3 in the Big East this season. Cincinnati has played the second toughest schedule in the country. The Bearcats are 18-17 in Dantonio's three seasons. Cincinnati was 7-5 in Dantonio's first season.
"He is a man of great character," Staten said of Dantonio. "I have been very fortunate to play under and then coach for some pretty special people. Mark is the kind of guy that you would want your son to play for and to be a part of what he is trying to do."
Dantonio was an assistant coach for the Spartans from 1995 until 2000, where he was the secondary coach. He was the associate head coach in 2000.
Staten said that it didn't matter where Dantonio was heading as a head coach. If he asked him to come along and be a part of his staff, the 2001 Miami of Ohio graduate was going to go.
"I told him that if he would have said Nevada was the place to go, I would have packed my bags and been on my way," Staten said.
Staten and his wife Dana have one son, Quinn, who will be two years old in December.
"She's excited," Staten said of his wife. "She has become very knowledgeable about college football and she understands what a great opportunity this is to come to such a historic place."
Of breaking the news to former roommate Shemy Schembechler, the son of the late Bo Schembechler, Staten wasn't quite so sure how excited he was going to be.
"Shemy and I talk every couple of weeks, we are really good friends," Staten said. "But I am sure he is going to give me a hard time about this."
Dantonio and his staff broke the news to the Cincinnati players in an early Monday morning meeting.
"We had a 7 a.m. meeting schedule anyway," Staten said. "That was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Some of those kids I have known for five years because I recruited them."
With the news out and plenty of things to get tied up before leaving Cincinnati for East Lansing, Staten said he is going to be very busy for the next few weeks.
Staten began his coaching career at Crespi Carmelite High in Encino, Calif. as an assistant in 1999.
He came back to Miami in 2000 as a student assistant coach and was promoted to graduate assistant in 2001.
He began working as a recruiter while at Miami and Ohio State where he helped coordinate on-campus recruiting arrangements. He also oversaw junior college recruiting at Ohio State, according to his biographical information provided by the University of Cincinnati.
Staten was a four-year starter at Miami as a defensive tackle. He earned All-Mid-American Conference honors as a senior and was signed to a free agent contract by the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent part of the 1993 and 1994 seasons with the New England Patriots.
He was drafted by the Barcelona Dragons of the World Football League in 1995. His professional career was cut short by a knee injury.