Understand the One Thing MSU Coach Mark Dantonio & Alabama Coach Nick Saban have in Common Heading to the Cotton Bowl!

East Lansing, MI

As #3 Michigan State and #2 Alabama get ready to face each other in the second annual College Football playoff, the two coaches who share so much in common now find even more common ground. Mark Dantonio is fond of telling his players to, “Keep the Lion in the cage.” Simply interpreted it means players need to control their emotion until they are on the field.

Nick Saban has the same dilemma. Both teams have players the others wanted and to reach this point both programs have demonstrated elite players and coaching staffs. Competitive testosterone fueled young men playing a violent albeit beautiful sport is not normally the ingredients of patience. So how does each coach maintain the emotion of 105 young men and keep things as normal as possible for the next 22 days?

Dantonio said of the challenge that, “I think, first of all, we have to recruit for a week and then, as you said, we're in exams and we have to prepare during that exam week. And, obviously, you always have to give people some time off around the holidays, Christmas, and then get back at it with the bowl game. So I think to me, it's just the ability to stay focused over a course of a month to get ready to play what you hope will be your best game. There's unknowns -- so many unknowns in that because people change over the course of a month because they do critiques of themselves and self-scouting on themselves. So they're always adding some new dimension to who they are.”

Dantonio added of the challenge that, “They study you so well. So there's a lot to plan for. And along the way you've got to keep your own team healthy. So it's -- I think it's a challenge. And then to be in a game like this where there's much on the line for you, for our football team. Extremely proud of what our guys have been able to accomplish and we look forward to trying to move to the next step.

But there's built-in challenges with the time restrictions, as you said, and then also the people that we're playing against. There's just a lot of challenges. But with that, there's also opportunity.”

Nick Saban has won multiple national titles and he thinks the challenge of navigating the time off is just that, a challenge. “Well, I think the biggest challenge is twofold. Physically, you sort of disrupt the routine of what your players do on a week-to-week basis. And sort of emotionally, you develop a little bit of a rhythm and a momentum if you're playing well that you really -- it's difficult to sustain for a month or four weeks or however long it is. And so when you don't play for a long time, you get a little rusty. So you've got to practice at a level that allows your players to stay sharp physically and stay in good condition as well as not get them beat up. There's a lot of challenges to this, but I think psychologically it is the most important thing to be able to get your guys to be ready to play when the time comes. And that's the biggest challenge.”

So as the time ticks away it is the fan bases and the eyes of the nation that will stir the conversation, the hype and the excitement. Nothing wrong with that, but many don’t understand the challenges each coach faces, many of them off the field like the wait. Don’t worry, THE GAME is coming soon and if you are a Spartan, your Unitas Award Winning QB needs the time off and the rest to let his “Golden Arm” heal.

For Spartan Nation the delay, the wait is a blessing. The Spartans health has been getting better, but with over three weeks between the B1G championship and the Cotton Bowl, patience is just what the doctor ordered.