It was the Mark Dantonio comedy hour at the head coach’s weekly press conference Tuesday as the normally stern head coach showcased a slight sense of humor while meeting with the media.
With his trademark wry smile, Dantonio joked about a variety of topics, including responding to questions about piling up mileage on junior running back Le’Veon Bell by saying MSU will run Bell “until he gets a flat.”
But his tone turned serious in addressing his players’ recent use of Twitter.
On Saturday, numerous football players posted tweets during U-M’s football game against Alabama, mocking the Wolverines as they fell 41-14.
The players included junior linebackers Denicos Allen and freshman Jamal Lyles, redshirt freshman safety Kyle Artinian and sophomore running back Nick Hill, and Dantonio made it clear the behavior would not be tolerated.
“Our guys need to keep their mouths shut. Is that blunt enough?,” Dantonio said. “Especially those that aren’t even playing. … I think it’s disrespectful. I don’t think that’s something that we should be doing, so I’ll deal with that on my end.”
Andrew Maxwell said although he has a Twitter account, he rarely uses it, “because I can never really think of anything interesting to say,” but did say there is an obligation to use social media responsibly that he and his teammates are aware of.
“On Saturday night, there were a couple instances of poor judgment,” the junior quarterback said. “We have a lot of training on (social media, and) guys know the ramifications of it. … We need to exercise better judgment.”
Maxing out
No one was a better symbol of improved judgment than Maxwell, who responded to three first half interceptions, by completing 11 of 16 passes for 152 yards with no interceptions in the second half, prompting Dantonio to say the resiliency his quarterback showed is symbolic of the type of person he’s been throughout his time at MSU.
“(Maxwell) showed good leadership skills, and he rolled with things when things didn’t go as well as he would have liked,” Dantonio said. “I think those are characteristics that are hard to teach.
“You have to be calm at the quarterback position. You’re not always going to be right. You’re going to be questioned. You’ll have guys drop balls, have the ball tipped, have pressure and you have to be able to roll with that and get back up and play.”
Junior receiver Bennie Fowler said watching Maxwell maintain composure during the game’s adversity helped show the qualities that make him a great leader.
“It shows his swagger, his confidence (and) who he is as a person,” Fowler said. “For him not to get down after throwing three interceptions in the first half, and for him to bounce back and make big plays … you would feel like he’s played in big games his whole career, even though that was his first start.”
Maxwell said moments, such as last season’s come-from-behind victory against Wisconsin, helped show him that with continued poise a team is never out of a game.
“Going into the locker room, you can decide to go one of two ways,” Maxwell said. “You can either tank and feel bad about it, feel bad for yourself and just kind of hang it up. Or you can press on and realize there is still a game to be won, and we have to make the plays and go do that.
“We know if we hang around, we’ll have an opportunity to win it.”
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