Michigan State Prioritized Conditioning and Recruiting in Bye Week, Now Looking Ahead to Notre Dame!
Michigan State Football Coach Mark Dantonio and his staff are determined to ensure that Number 8 MSU maintains its condition. Anyone else might have chosen to keep a close eye on this week’s opponents, Number 18 Notre Dame, so Dantonio’ s actions might change some college football predictions.
Coach Dantonio said that he decided to give his players Saturday off, this while the Spartans decided that they would approach the second week bye like any other game week.
The coach explained that every day of the week, Monday to Sunday, had been spent maintaining MSU’s conditioning. But now Dantonio and his Spartans are ready for Notre Dame come Saturday.
Dantonio was clearly aware of the fact that his guys hadn’t played a game in the second week. As such, the coach understood the importance of keeping his team on their toes and in peak perfect shape. That is why last week during the bye, the Spartans had one of their most brutal weeks of physical practice since he arrived nearly ten years ago.
You cannot exactly go back to summer camp; even considering the necessity of keeping his guys healthy, Mark wouldn’t risk losing anybody to injury; however, conditioning the players is also quite important.
Notre Dame’s problems are a little different. After all, in the span of six days, they have played two games. The Game against Nevada at home ended with a win on Saturday. Before that, Notre Dame suffered a double-overtime defeat at Texas on the 4th of September.
There is a need to maintain a certain balance. In an interview with the Notre Dame Coach (Sunday Teleconference), Brian Kelly explained that he sought to carve out some time for his team to rest following that short week.
However, like Mark, Kelly also understands that the team needs to prepare for their next challenge; and the right type of preparation can make all the difference in the world.
Kelly has no intention of working his guys harder than necessary. Rather, the plan is to cut things back during the week; if all goes according to plan, they will gradually fall back into their normal training schedule.
It would be a mistake to thrust them back into rigorous training routines right away.
Dantonio has referenced the bye week is also a notable opportunity for MSU coaches to get out on the recruiting trail, possibly even getting a little more work done than normal. They did just that.
But the bye week is over and Dantonio and his Spartans are ready with practice today to begin ramping their pace back up for their next game.
Speaking of Dantonio, he made an appearance at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday Night to witness the induction of Tom Izzo inSpringfield , Mass. The event was something he called, "Special" for his "Friend" Tom Izzo and that he was, "Blessed" to be a part of it.
Dantonio was heard laughing and commenting about the daunting number of 7-footers he saw in that one-block square. Yao Ming and Shaquille O’Neil made an impact on Dantonio as well.
For all the large people he spends his time coaching, those two truly dwarfed Dantonio, who also applauded Izzo’s enjoyable speech. The opportunity allowed Dantonio to take a break from football if only for a while.
