A History of Michigan State University Football Coaches
The Michigan State Spartans football program has a storied history dating back to its inception as a club sport in 1885 and its elevation to varsity status in 1896. As a member of the Big Ten Conference, the Spartans have claimed six national championships and cultivated a tradition of excellence on the gridiron. This article explores the coaches who have shaped the program, from its early days in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) to its modern-day standing.
Early Years and the Rise of Chester Brewer
The early years of Michigan State football, then known as Michigan Agricultural College (MAC), saw the team competing in the MIAA. While the Aggies managed to secure one outright league football championship in 1905 and share another with Albion in 1903, the program's trajectory shifted dramatically with the arrival of Chester Brewer.
Brewer's impact on the football program was revolutionary during his three stints as head coach: 1903-10, 1917, and 1919. Known as a defensive genius, his teams were renowned for their ability to shut down opponents, posting shutouts in 49 of the 88 games he coached.
The Interwar Period: Crowley and Bachman
In 1929, Jim Crowley, one of Notre Dame's legendary Four Horsemen, took over as head football coach at Michigan State. Following Crowley's tenure, Charlie Bachman, another Notre Dame alumnus, assumed the role, bringing his experience from a successful stint at Florida.
The Biggie Munn Era: National Championships and a Football Factory
A pivotal figure in Michigan State football history, Biggie Munn, became head coach in 1947. His arrival marked the beginning of a golden era for the program. Munn's 1951 and 1952 squads achieved the ultimate success, winning national championships. Each year, the Michigan State Spartans football team hands out the "Biggie Munn Award" to the team's most motivational player. MSU's Munn Ice Arena, built in 1974, is named in his honor. Munn was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1959, and, in 1961, he became Michigan State's first inductee into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
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In 1947, Munn and the Michigan State administration, led by university president John A. Hannah, approached Notre Dame president Father Cavanaugh to have his Fighting Irish play the Spartans for the first time since 1921. MSU initially offered to let Notre Dame take 80 percent of the gate, but Cavanaugh insisted they split the receipts down the middle. Munn was the only coach to beat Notre Dame head coach Frank Leahy three years in a row (1950-52).
The 1952 squad continued Munn's undefeated streak going 9-0. Michigan State won a national championship for the second year in a row and for the first time in school history were voted No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches' polls.
In 1953, Michigan State's first year of conference play in the Big Ten, the Spartans shared the conference title with Illinois and went to the Rose Bowl, where they beat UCLA, 28-20. On October 24, 1953, Purdue upset the Spartans 6-0, ending Munn's 28-game winning streak. Shortly after the Rose Bowl victory, MSU's athletic director, Ralph H. Young retired. Munn stepped down from coaching to assume duties as athletic director and remained in that position until 1971.
Munn's coaching prowess was evident in his ability to develop talent, as he tutored 17 All-Americans during his tenure. His teams consistently dominated on the ground, holding the school's top four season marks for rushing-yards-per-game: 1948 (304.5 yards/game), 1951 (293.9 yards), 1952 (272.4), and 1950 (269.3).
During the 1950s, when Detroit was the heart of the automotive industry, Michigan State earned the moniker of the nation's "football factory," churning out top-tier talent.
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Duffy Daugherty: An Era of National Prominence
Duffy Daugherty succeeded Munn in December 1953, embarking on a remarkable 19-season tenure as head coach, the longest in program history. Daugherty compiled a career record of 109-69-5. Duffy's 1965 and 1966 teams won national championships.
In 1954, after compiling a disappointing 3-6 record in Daugherty's first season in 1954, the Spartans improved and finished second in the Big Ten behind Ohio State in 1955 with an 8-1 record in the regular season. Michigan State received the conference's invitation to the 1956 Rose Bowl instead of the Buckeyes due to the conference's prohibition against consecutive trips to the Rose Bowl. In Pasadena, the Spartans defeated UCLA, 17-14, for their second bowl win in school history. From 1956 to 1964, Daugherty's Michigan State teams were usually good, three times placing second in Big Ten, but never captured the conference crown. The Spartans did, however, beat Notre Dame eight straight times between 1955 and 1963, a feat matched only by Michigan (1887-1908) and USC (2002-2009). On November 5, 1964, the NCAA found Daugherty's program at Michigan State guilty of NCAA infractions prior to and during the 1957, 1958, and 1959 seasons.
The 1965 and 1966 seasons were the high points in Daugherty's coaching tenure, if not in the history of Michigan State football. The 1965 team finished the regular season 10-0 and ranked first in the country, but was upset by UCLA in the 1966 Rose Bowl, 14-12. Nevertheless, Michigan State was named national champions by the UPI and the National Football Foundation. The 1966 team began the season 9-0 and headed into their final game ranked No. 2 against No. 1 Notre Dame at Spartan Stadium on November 19. The No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, dubbed "The Game of the Century" by national media, ended in a 10-10 tie. The Spartans did not play in a bowl game following the 1966 season due to Big Ten rules in place at the time that prohibited its teams from playing in the Rose Bowl in consecutive years and barred participation in any other bowl.
Beginning with the 1967 season, there was a decline in the Spartans football program under Duffy. Daugherty's teams in the late 60s and early 70s consistently hovered around the .500 mark, with only his 1971 squad finishing with a winning record (6-5). During Daugherty's time in East Lansing, he recruited and coached some of the best players in Michigan State's history, including Herb Adderley, Brad Van Pelt, Bubba Smith, George Webster, Joe DeLamielleure, and Billy Joe DuPree who is recognized as the greatest tight end in Michigan State history.
George Perles: Returning a Spartan Legend
After returning from US Army active duty, George Perles returned to Michigan, where he enrolled at Michigan State University and played football under legendary coach Duffy Daugherty. Perles played the 1958 season before his playing career was cut short by a knee injury. Perles then started his football coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State before moving on to the high school ranks in Chicago and Detroit, where his St. Ambrose High School team won their first Detroit City League Championship in 1961. In 1972, Chuck Noll, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, offered Perles the position of defensive line coach. In Perles' first season, the Steelers made the NFL playoffs for the second time in franchise history, the first since 1947, losing to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game. In 1974, the Steelers won the first of six consecutive AFC Central division championships and also their first Super Bowl. Perles became the defensive coordinator for the Steelers in 1978 and then assistant head coach under Noll in 1979.
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Perles returned to Michigan State University on December 3, 1982. In 12 years, he led the Spartans to two Big Ten Conference titles, seven bowl games and a victory in the 1988 Rose Bowl. The 1987 season marked the Spartans' last outright Big Ten title until 2013.
During 1994-1995, an extensive external investigation conducted by the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. uncovered various infractions including grade tampering by an athletic department administrator. MSU president M. Peter McPherson fired Perles before the end of the 1994 season, and ordered the Spartans to forfeit their five wins for that season. Perles was found "not culpable". Many fans and alumni believed he was treated unfairly. He later went on to be the founder of The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and served on the MSU board of trustees.
The Saban Years: A Foundation for Future Success
Beginning in 1995, Saban moderately improved MSU's fortunes, taking the Spartans to minor bowl games (all of which they lost by double-digit margins) in each of his first three seasons. From 1995 to 1997, Michigan State finished 6-5-1, 6-6, and 7-5. On November 7, 1998, the Spartans upset the No. 1 ranked Ohio State 28-24 at Ohio Stadium. In 1999, Saban led the Spartans to a 9-2 season that included wins over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. Conversely, the two losses were routs at the hands of Purdue and Wisconsin. Following the final regular-season game against Penn State, Saban abruptly resigned to accept the head coaching position with LSU. Saban's assistant head coach and successor, Bobby Williams, then coached MSU to a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida, giving the Spartans an overall record of 10-2 for the 1999 season.
Mark Dantonio: A Modern Era of Success
On November 27, 2006, Mark Dantonio was hired from the University of Cincinnati to become Michigan State's new football head coach. Dantonio served as an assistant coach at MSU from 1995 to 2000 and was Ohio State's defensive coordinator during their 2002 national championship season. Dantonio was also an assistant at Kansas and Youngstown State University. In 2010, Dantonio led MSU to earn a share of the Big Ten Championship after finishing the year in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin. His 2011 team won their division and appeared in the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game. His Spartans would win outright Big Ten Championships in 2013 and 2015 with victories in the 2013 and 2015 Championship Games. He has compiled an 8-4 record against the arch-rival Michigan. Michigan State's streak of four wins in a row, from the 2008 season through 2011, tied Michigan State's best in the rivalry. Dantonio's record also includes a 4-4 mark for the Megaphone Trophy, which goes to the winner of the Notre Dame rivalry game. He is considered a defensive-minded coach and has been on the coaching staffs of Glen Mason, Jim Tressel and Nick Saban. On September 21, 2019, Dantonio became Michigan State's winningest coach with a 31-10 victory over Northwestern that gave him his 110th win at the program and moved him past Duffy Daugherty. Dantonio is Michigan State;s all-time winningest coach with 114 wins. As of February 2018, his contract was set to run through 2024.
In 2013, he coached Michigan State to its first 13-win season and the program’s fifth trip to the Rose Bowl where they defeated Stanford and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation. This was the second time a Big Ten team reached the 13-win mark, the previous being Ohio State’s national championship season in 2002, where Dantonio was the defensive coordinator. In 2015, Dantonio became the first head coach in Big Ten history to achieve at least 11 wins in five of six seasons.
Recent Coaching Changes
On February 12, 2020, Mel Tucker was hired from the University of Colorado to become Michigan State's new football head coach. Tucker served as a graduate assistant at MSU from 1997 to 1998, and also had stops as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator in 2004, assistant head coach at Alabama in 2015, as well as the defensive coordinator for Georgia from 2016 to 2018. He was also an assistant at Miami (OH) and LSU. In 2021, helped by the transfer into the program of running back Kenneth Walker III, the Spartans again beat Michigan and started the season 8-0 and were ranked third in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. Looking to build on the success of the 2021 season, the Spartans opened the 2022 season ranked No. 15 in the AP poll. After winning the first two games of the season, the Spartans lost four consecutive games before a double-overtime victory over Wisconsin. However, the Spartans lost three of their final five games, including to rival Michigan, to end the season. They finished the season 5-7, 3-6 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place in the East division.
Michigan State announced it had hired Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith on Nov. 25, 2023. Smith was fired on Nov. After the firing of coach Jonathan Smith, Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern University was appointed head coach on Dec.
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