Grid Insider: Meet Dan Enos & Mark Staten
12/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 15, 2006
Meet Coach Enos
Meet Coach Staten
Enos Player Highlights
Dan Enos
Dan Enos, a four-year football letterman (1987-90) and two-year starter (1989-90) at quarterback at Michigan State, joins Coach Dantonio's staff for the second time in his career. Enos, who will coach the running backs, spent two seasons as quarterbacks coach at Cincinnati (2004-05). Enos returned to East Lansing in 2006 to serve as the quarterbacks coach.
On the challenge of going from quarterbacks to running backs . . .
I've coached running backs before, but one thing the two positions have in common is their heavy involvement in all aspects of the offense from the run game, protections and the passing game. I think it was a natural fit there. I'll still be heavily involved in the game plan and the structure of those things which excites me quite a bit. It's a new and different challenge. Sometimes as a coach, you face new challenges and I'm looking forward to it. I know the personnel here. I know those guys very well, and they are great young men. I'm looking forward to working with them.
On reuniting with the coaching staff from Cincinnati . . .
They are a great group of people, and I think that it starts at the top. Coach Dantonio tries to hire great people. That is his main objective when looking for coaches. I remember when he hired me at Cincinnati and I had only met him a couple times. When he interviewed me, he stressed that point before he offered me the job. He also made sure he checked my background quite a bit and talked to a lot of people who knew me personally about the type of person I was because that was the most important thing. The x's and o's are important, but the most important thing is to get a good fit and a good person. It's a great group of guys, and they are fun to work with. I'm looking forward to working with them again.
On how the team will look different under Coach Dantonio . . .
He's going to talk about toughness and being physical every day. He's going to talk about the little things. It's not that we didn't talk about the little things last year, but I think you will see a team that is going to play great defense. They will also attempt to run the football. It will be more smash mouth. There will be more two-back stuff. He runs a more involved and controlled style offense. To the naked eye, those will be the obvious differences.
On Brian Hoyer . . .
I saw a young man that's matured over the past year quite a bit. He got better in every aspect of the game and off the field as well. His grades have improved. I think one of the best things I can say about Brian is I think his development over the past year has a lot do with being around Drew Stanton. He learned from a guy that did it the right way. Brian is doing it the right way. He is a tremendous worker. One thing, I was very impressed with was how he handled himself at Penn State. That was the first game he went into when he knew he was going to start it and finish it. He handled a very hostile environment very well. He had great poise throughout the game, and he made great decisions.
After the Penn State game, he asked me to come in on Sunday and grade the game with him. I said of course I will. Then we went through every play. He didn't know if I would be here in the next two weeks, but he didn't care. He wanted to learn from his mistakes. One thing he did that surprised Drew and I was when he ran. I said to Drew, "Can you believe he just did that?" and Drew said, "No, and he looked fast." We laughed about that. I think he has a chance if he continues to work as hard as he does to be a very good player here.
We threw it all at him (Brian) at Penn State. We didn't hold anything back. Coach (Dave) Baldwin was asking me earlier in the week, "what is he like, what can we do?" And I told him, "run it all Dave, he knows it." He practices it everyday. When we practice there is not much difference between what he knows and what Drew knows. Therefore Coach Baldwin threw the whole thing at him, and he handled it very well.
On talking with Brian Hoyer and Connor Dixon about Coach Dantonio . . .
Over the course of the year, we talked about a lot of things. We saw Cincinnati's offense on tape against Pittsburgh and against Ohio State. While we were watching the defense, they would ask me what's Coach Dantonio like, not knowing any of this was going to happen. They had already known how I felt about him when they asked me in those meetings, and I told them again he was great guy.
On the different look of the running game . . .
The bottom line is the kids want to win. When it comes down to it, I don't think anybody cares what style they are running as long as they win football games. It doesn't matter in today's game if you are in a two back system or one back system. If you can't run and pass the ball well, you won't be able to beat anybody anyway. No matter what the system is: if you're the quarterback you're going to throw the ball whether there are two receivers on the field at a time or four.
Reception from players when they found out you were staying . . .
A lot of guys sent me a text message and others called me. Drew Stanton called me and asked me about it. Connor Dixon and some other guys called me as well. They are great young men and they knew how important this was to me. This all just kind of worked out for everybody.
 In addition to coaching the tight ends and tackles, Mark Staten serves as the program's recruiting coordinator.  | |
Mark Staten
Tight ends/tackles coach and recruiting coordinator Mark Staten brings a mix of professional playing experience with a solid coaching background to Michigan State. He landed his first full-time assistant position on Coach Mark Dantonio's staff in Cincinnati in 2004, and made an immediate impact, working as both a tight ends/tackles coach and the program's recruiting coordinator. Staten also has coached at Ohio State, where he spent two years as a graduate assistant, contributing to the Buckeyes' 2002 National Championship. He was a four-year starter as a defensive tackle at Miami (Ohio), and played professionally for Cincinnati and New England. Staten recently met with the media and talked about his recruiting strategy and coaching philosophy.
On the team's recruiting strategy . . .
I'm originally from a small town on the southwest side of the state called Dowagiac (Mich.), so I've already talked to a couple coaches, and I've talked to my old coach Denny Dock, who's at Stevensville Lakeshore. We just have to work hard to let the high school coaches know that we're available, that's the biggest thing. Coach Dantonio is a people person, and being a people person, you have to be available. Whether it's to look at a possible recruit, or if it's to participate in a clinic, to say, "Hey, when you guys run the power, you do this," we have to be there and available for them.
Right now, we're kind of hitting the ground running, we literally signed our contracts last Tuesday (Nov. 28), and I was on a plane at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
It's a great, great thing, we're selling a great university, and it's a little more clout now that we're wearing Green and White.
On his recruiting territories at Cincinnati . . .
St. Louis, Cleveland, junior colleges, and I recruited Kentucky for a little while as well. Being the recruiting coordinator, it's kind of like you're the front man. I tried to do everything the best I could for Coach Dantonio, because I'm representing him every time I do something.
On Michigan State . . .
People know about Michigan State. They know that this is a great school. They know that they have great academics here, and they know that they play great football here.
On the key to being successful . . .
Toughness. It's all about toughness. That's one thing that Coach D preaches. What we preach as his assistants is, "our kids are going to play this game with great toughness. Maybe this kid might be a little bit better skilled athlete, but our kids are going to out-tough them." And that's what it's all about.
I think it's when the players see the results - I think that's a big thing. And I heard coach say this in his press conference, and it's true, that kids don't care what you know until they know how much you care. That was from Jim Tressel's father Lee, that was a quote that he had used, and it's the truth. When kids know that you genuinely care about them, then it's true. We just left a group of kids that I felt like they were my own kids. I felt like they were my own sons. And that was tough, but that was because we cared so much about those individuals. When you care and you genuinely love something, what you get in return is 10-fold.
On whether he has gotten a chance to evaluate Michigan State's players . . .
I haven't really had a chance to go into depths about it, because now we're just out there trying to get some great teammates for players like Kellen (Davis). The big thing is that Michigan State will be a disciplined bunch of guys that play tough, play fast, that swarm the ball on defense, that try to punch you in the mouth on offense, and that's the goal. We'll try and take advantage of things that we see as mismatches. That's huge in this game.
On recruiting . . .
We're really spending a lot of time in front of that television, in front of that video monitor, making sure we're bringing in the right guys. We're talking to guidance counselors, talking to teachers, talking to coaches, talking to coaches that play in the same conference, and just finding out as much as we can, because those kids are going to represent Michigan State University. There's a lot of weight behind that, and there's a lot of weight to being the recruiting coordinator, and a lot of weight to coaching at Michigan State, and we need to do it right. We need to get this place back to what it once was. Back in the day when I was a kid, Michigan State football was tough. They were going to hit you in the mouth, and that's what it was about. That's what we are here to bring back.
