Mark Dantonio
I hand it to Michigan Wide Receivers Coach & Recruiting Coordinator Jeff Hecklinski for making a mistake but then handling an awkward situation with class. However, a sampling of Michigan fans’ reactions shows that they aren’t nearly as classy as their coach.
One of my favorite Michigan fans, isportsweb’s own Rob White, even over-reacted to this story. And that is an unusual thing. Read the details here.
Ok, done reading that?
The coaches from Michigan, Michigan State, Wayne State, Alma and Sienna Heights were part of a FORUM in which they were talking to a room full of high school coaches. From what I can tell, there was a misunderstanding on the part of Hecklinski as to the format of the forum.
MSU football coach, Mark Dantonio gave a BRIEF introduction speech and even spoke RESPECTULLY of the Michigan football program. When Hecklinski got up for his turn, he also spoke RESPECTFULLY of the MSU program. Unfortunately, he didn’t understand that he only had a few minute introduction and then the panel would discuss the issues at hand.
After diving into a detailed explanation of UM’s recruiting process, Hecklinski was interrupted by Dantonio. Instead of allowing his arch-rival to gain a competitive advantage over his program by addressing these coaches for much longer than he was allowed to, Dantonio summoned the rest of the panel to the stage to go through the issues TOGETHER.
Hecklinski made a mistake. He owned up to it. He said said, “look, I understand my place.” He knew that he made a mistake. He thought he had a 15-minute window. He was wrong. “There’s no reason to rehash it,” Hecklinski said. But his fans didn’t get the message. Twitter is ablaze with ignorant comments from Michigan fans bashing Dantonio.
Hecklinski said that his job was to “make sure I did not interrupt or take away from that process or take away from what the podium was for.”
I’ve got respect for how the Wolverine coach responded. Not so much for the Wolverine fans.
To Michigan fans everywhere, try this out: reverse the roles and see how you would have reacted. Pretend an MSU coach doesn’t follow the rules of the forum and a UM coach lets him know about it. I’m pretty sure you would have been ok with it.
What goes around…comes around…we try to teach our young people to treat others with respect…Dantonio has no business mentoring young men…he is just a arrogant bully…MSU’s football program is going to be in trouble…sooner…or later with this type of leadership!!!
I bet you like Dantonio also think Jim Tressel is a man of integrity. Dantonio will be found out soon enough.
LOL!! “lilbrotherhater”!?!? Obsessed with MSU much?
Wow. What a terrible article. Coming from a second rate website, and a third rate writer. I was actually at this event. Whether you’re an MSU fan or an M fan this was a completely classless move from Dantonio. I get that MSU fans have a chip on their shoulder because no one respects them. And no one respects MSU football and their win streak against Michigan has essentially been viewed as a fluke. A result of Michigan being down for a few years. But to say fans have been ”overreacting” and base your article on that just proves what a terrible reporter you are. As a so called sports reporter you SHOULD be talking about how ALL coaches should bee acting with class and as leaders of student/athletes at all times. We get it Dantonio. You don’t like Michigan. But that is NO excuse for this type of boorish behavior. I was there, and it was a classless move. I’m never coming to this website again. David Harris- You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be writing for an MSU blog. It’s amazing how reporters like you even have jobs.
Why is it a reporter’s job to stress that ALL coaches talk respectfully? I always thought it was a reporter’s job to report the facts and let the reader make his own conclusion. Since when did reportrs become morality police? Now, if u were at the event and know for a fact that Dantonio’s actions were widely viewed as rude by those in attendance, that’s fine. But is that your opinion through your maize and blue glasses, or was that the general consensus? And even if u were there, don’t u have to acknowledge that the background provided by this story, specifically that the UM coach was wrong and admitted as much, add a dimension to the story that u had obviously not considered? Sounds a lot like Hecklinski screwed up and Dantonio called him on it.
You might want to check your facts before you start posting. I was there. Dantonio didn’t “give a brief introduction” – he used up his time. Coach Hecklinski was talking in way more specifics than Dantonio, but it wasn’t something that isn’t normally discussed.
Sorry, just wanted to point this out. Coach D is a good coach, and I have a lot of respect for him as a coach, but he shocked a few of us today. It was awkward and I wouldn’t say Hecklinski was in the wrong.
Michigan can take their Rivals recruiting ranking trophy, Paul Bunyan is about to be a 5th year senior!
The comments section just makes this author’s point…
fuck u
And while Im at it why is OK for Dantonio to talk about HIS PROGRAM but NOBODY ELSE?
Who does the think he is ..Hes Arrogant petulant whiny big BABY
and you ARE? who cares what you think..Mark Dantonio was RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL. if I did what he did at a Professional Clinic and my boss saw me? I would have been FIRED
what a jerk
“who cares what you think”. You took the time to read the article and post a comment. Pretty sure that means you care what the aurthor thinks.
NO COACH ANYWHERE IS AS CLASSLESS AS IZZO! HE MADE HIMSELF AND HIS PROGRAM APPEAR AS WHINY, SOBBING, UNSPORTSMANLIKE JERKS WHEN HE ARGUED VEHEMENTLY, AND EVEN BIT HARD ON HIS TOWEL THROWING A TANTRUM LIKE A 3 YEAR OLD! THE FACT WAS, AS THE ANNOUNCERS POINTED OUT CLEARLY, WAS THAT THE MSU PLAYER BOUNCED THE BALL OFF OF HIS OWN FOOT! IZZO HOWEVER, WENT INTO A TIRADE, AND REALLY MADE HIMSELF LOOK LIKE THE WHINER HE IS! HE TERACHES HISD ATHLETES TO CRY ABOUT EVERY CALL, THAT WAY, AT LEAST ONCE IN AWHILE THE REF WILL BE INTIMATED AND HESITATE THE NEXT TIME A SIMILAR SITUATION ARISES, WHETHER OR NOT IT IS CORRECT OR NOT! IS THAT WHAT COLLEGE ATHLETES AREW SUPPOSED TO GAIN OUT OF COMPETITION, TO CHEAT OR WIN ANY WAY YOU CAN, REGARDLESS OF RULES, ETHICS, OR MORALS! AFTER THIS, 3 DAYS LATER, THIS IDIOT JOURNALIST WRITES THIS TOTALLY ASSNINE ARTICLE WITH NO POINT EVEN BEING WORTH GAINED, IT IS A TOTALLY SENSELESS ARTICLE WRITTEN WITH COMPLETE BIAS AGAINST MICHIGAN! GROW UP SPARTAN FANS, GET A LIFE !
U must suk a lot of cock
Says the guy with the name of “Isuck”
I think us UM fans have a legitament excuse to be angry. Dantonio could have used some obviously lacking courtesy and politely told Coach Hecklinski that he was no longer in the alotted time frame, instead he took a very crude approach and even added a negative UM comment. Hecklinski being the class act that he is didn’t respond how most would have. Fact is; Coach H. Didn’t know the rules and Dantonio took it as an opportunity to take a shot at him. Bottom line.
he wasnt in the alloted time becuse Dantonio stole his time and ran it out.. hes a jerk
Dude you are a waste. You aren’t a legit journalist. Go back to the woods.
Thank you, David, for admitting via twitter that you are not a journalist and not objective. It puts this article in a fair light.
The article above is spot on. Once again UMers are incensed when Dantonio doesn’t just meekly roll over and let UM say and do whatever it wishes. He is so far into their heads that ANYTHING he says will be twisted into an insult and called “classless”. It’s very entertaining. Dantonio is the personification of dignity and class—except that he won’t accept attempts to denigrate MSU and he won’t allow UofM to get away with crap unanswered. BTW the “quote” below is a UofM fabrication. Here is the actual quote from the Free Press: “OK, here’s what we’re going to do,” Dantonio said, cutting off Hecklinski, “we’re going to get other people up here. We’re going to talk about more than the University of Michigan.”
Even as a State fan i thought Mark was a little over the top, but this is really nothing new or newsworthy. The article doesn’t even go into what really happened, great setup to your article…
Hold on a minute. The quote from Dantonio on the message board that is upsetting to UM fans and that you omitted is:
Dantonio then burst in, interrupts Hecklinski and yells, “We’re not here to listen to this. Move on!”
And your saying that Hecklinski was interrupted by Dantonio does not fairly represent the situation.
Seems like the author of this article is also coming up short in the class department. Just soy ds like a Spartan fan. I find his credibility lacking. To be fair, Dantonio has a history of acting immaturely when it comes to Michigan. His comments to Mike Hart in 2007 are a good example. I cannot imagine Lloyd or Brady insulting an MSU senior. Bottom line is Dantonio IS the face of his program and he should act accordingly.
Sorry for the typo – should have said “he just sounds like a Spartan fan.”
I am a Spartan fan.
Fair enough. I follow lots of reporters who “cover” schools, but do so impartially. Its good to know the views of your sources. I understand now that your article is an opinion piece, not a report on the actual events, which is an important distinction. You also took creative license to omit the truly offensive facts of this exchange (as another commenter noted.) In an opinion piece, that’s your prerogative.
I would encourage curious readers to look at other coverage of this incident if you want the whole story – Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and MLive have more credible reports.
ReneegrInd: You hit the nail on the head. Yes this incident by itself is not a major one. However, it is the latest in a pattern of similar behavior that I think is way over the top.
It’s the totality of the circumstances, it just never stops with this guy. Yes, Hecklinski took the PC route with his answer, that is no surprise.
Dantonio is a goof ball.
to me, this whole thing smacks of much ado about nothing.