DALLAS (AP) – Mark Dantonio glanced toward Nick Saban during the final news conference before their teams meet in the College Football Playoff and gave a little grin at his old boss.
“He’s letting me answer all the questions, I guess. First, anyway,” Dantonio said Wednesday. “We’ll probably get to kick off.”
The Michigan State coach didn’t mind deferring to his counterpart from Alabama. If it wasn’t for Saban, Dantonio and the Spartans might not be where they are today.
The third-ranked Spartans and No. 2 Crimson Tide will ring in the new year Thursday night in a game that will determine which team plays for the national championship.
“A lot of the things that we do are patterned after the things that I learned from him, whether it’s technique in the secondary, in the back end a little bit, or defensively, or just the structure of the entire program, recruiting. A lot of different aspects,” said Dantonio, who was defensive backs coach at Michigan State when Saban was head coach from 1995-99.