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Michigan State University’s most successful football coach, Mark Dantonio, 63, announced his retirement Feb. 4, one day after the team’s former recruiting director filed an updated lawsuit against Dantonio that details several National Collegiate Athletic Association violations, ESPN reported.
Curtis Blackwell, the former recruiting official, initially filed the suit in May 2017, alleging Dantonio ignored warnings about a football recruit’s history of sexual violence, arranged the employment of two players’ parents and sent Blackwell on an off-campus recruit visit, though he was not authorized to do so, The Detroit News reported. Dantonio decided not to renew Blackwell’s contract, and shortly after Blackwell sued the head coach and other university officials.
Dantonio denied Blackwell’s allegations in a January deposition and said his retirement has nothing to do with the pending lawsuit, ESPN reported. Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman told ESPN the claims are “patently false.”
“After much reflection and discussion with my family, I feel that it is now time for change as we enter into a new decade of Michigan State football,” Dantonio said in a statement. “My plan is to stay on within the university and athletic department in a role involving special projects, especially transitioning our players, both current and incoming, to their next challenges.”
