Mark Dantonio Losing Control and the Respect of Fellow Michigan State Players?

Michigan State football has endured its fair share of turbulence over the last two years. The national perception of the program has suffered due to the recent miscues of a few bad apples.

Instead of risking respect and dignity, Mark Dantonio should emulate MSU men's basketball coach Tom Izzo's disciplinary style.

Throw 'em out. Don't mess around and be straightforward. No B.S. Embrace the "not on my watch" philosophy. A player misses a practice, he sits the next game. Make the punishment fit the crime.

Bad attitude? Hit the shower and go home.

That's how Izzo does it, and he's revered for it. We can't begin to imagine what he'd do with Dantonio's guys.

Dantonio doesn't drop the heavy hand of discipline like Izzo does. 

He's given second chances that have come back to bite him, and something has got to give. His players aren't just bending the rules, they're breaking them, and with no regard to their coach's authority.

Former Spartan running back Glenn Winston was given his walking papers after a history of behavior unbecoming of the university and its football program.

An MSU hockey player nearly lost his life because of a Winston assault.

After the scuffle with the Spartan icer, Winston served a 180-day jail term, and was immediately reinstated to the football team. 

Experiencing some time in the pokey would lead most to think that Winston had a chance to re-evaluate his priorities, and get himself back on the right track. After all, he had a promising football career—and his youthful indiscretion put that in serious jeopardy.

Last November, Winston was again unable to control his temper—and this time it cost him.

In the highly publicized—and now infamous—Rather Hall melee on Michigan State's campus, Winston just couldn't resist the temptation of busting more heads.

At the Small Planet, a popular local party hub for MSU students, Winston was caught off-guard by fraternity members—pummelled by a group of rival frat boys on the nightclub's dance floor.

Winston had to defend his growing reputation as a tough guy, right?

Well, it wasn't just Winston that went to Rather Hall with vengeance on his mind; he brought reinforcements—Spartan wideouts Mark Dell and B.J. Cunningham.

Dell and Cunningham weren't the only football players that signed up to help right Winston's manhood, but they are two of the most recognizable and valuable to Dantonio's unit.

On the night of Nov. 22, 2009, Dell, Winston, and Cunningham (and others) were said to have stormed into a fraternity function and assaulted its members.

The infuriated gridiron stars didn't get away with ganging up on Winston's assailants for long. They were all identified and nailed with a myriad of charges, most ranging from conspiracy to commit assault or something resembling it.

Winston was dismissed; the others were not.

As the dust settled, so did the crowd of Spartan fans wanting answers from their head coach. Spring practice will be here before you know it, and so will the time for Dantonio to face the media's inquiries.

Dell and Cunningham were essentially slapped on the wrist; the two must comply with random drug and alcohol tests, and were ordered to stay out of bars. Of course they should stay out of bars, since both of them are under 21. Since when is that a punishment?

Both have been placed on 18 months of probation—the work of high-powered and well-connected attorneys, no less.

With the two star wide receivers reaching the legal drinking age at some point during their probation, is it reasonable to expect that they will steer clear of the dozens of drinking holes conveniently located near their school/places of residence?

Not by a long shot.

Drinking is part of college culture. Almost every college student from the community level to Harvard has had their nights of throwing caution to the wind and drinking until they couldn't walk straight—it happens.

To sit with a straight face and say that a 21-year-old football star wouldn't be caught near a bar on a Thursday or Friday or Saturday night isn't just naive, it's absurd.

Dantonio has to set the record straight and take control of his team. His band of players are being labeled as miscreants, thugs, reckless, irresponsible, and anti-authoritative.

He has to clear the air, and quickly.

The solution is simple: Dell and Cunningham must be let go.

To put his career in the hands of at-risk players with no apparent self control isn't just a bad move, but it's against what he believes.

The time is now to set some sort of precedent, coach.