Dantonio took time to discuss matters outside of football on Tuesday morning, fielding questions about his health issues following the 2010 game as his No. 10 Spartans (2-0) prepare to host the Irish on Saturday.

Dantonio said the main thing he took from the ordeal was watching his team battle on without him, which helped him realize he didn’t always need to be there and that his players had matured to handle adversity without their leader.

Junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell also said sometimes he could see the way the sixth-year head coach has changed since his heart attack.

“When that happened, from time to time, you can really see that he doesn’t let a day go by, or take it for granted,” Maxwell said about his coach. “It’s a privilege to be here as a player, it’s a privilege to be here as a coach and we’re the lucky ones to be in the position that we are, and I think he doesn’t let a day go by where he forgets that or takes it for granted.”

Dantonio also opened his weekly press conference by acknowledging the date and its connection to one of the most horrific tragedies in U.S. history.

On the 11-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and elsewhere, Dantonio assured he would take time to ensure his players would also keep in mind the lives lost during the attacks.

“I think it’s a time for reflection for all of us,” he said.

Dantonio also recalled his own memories from that day.

Then a defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Dantonio said he was in a defensive staff meeting when some graduate assistants out in the hall passed along the news.

The coaches watched the first and second towers collapse, but what stuck with Dantonio was the trip back home.

“I remember driving home in rush-hour traffic in Columbus, Ohio, and it was packed because everybody was leaving the city because there was a lot of speculation on what was going on,” he said.

“And I remember how calm and peaceful everybody was driving home. And people were letting people in; it was just everybody trying to work together to their families.”

In the wake of the attacks, the Spartans were scheduled to play Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001, and initially planned to play to get back to a sense of “normalcy.”

“I’m real excited that we are playing this game,” then-MSU head football coach Bobby Williams said in a statement at the time to the athletic department. “I had a chance to watch some of the news. I listened to (then-Secretary of Defense) Colin Powell and he had a very good message — that America should keep going and move forward — and I’m glad that we are doing that.”

However, travel complications prevented the Tigers from making the trip to East Lansing, and the game later was rescheduled.