ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Mark Dantonio's name briefly appeared on the radar for coaching vacancies last year as Michigan State made its run to the Capital One Bowl. If the Spartans program continues on its current trajectory, Dantonio will continue to be mentioned in coaching rumors, whether they're founded or not. 

But Dantonio has no interest in leaving East Lansing, as he recently told "The Dugout Sports Show" with Glenn Moore and Dan Brock, a radio show in Cleveland.

"This is our last coaching job as a family," he said. "This is where I want to be. I'm 53 years old, so ... Michigan State's a great place, I was here for six years prior to coming back here. I try to keep my eyes and focus on what we're doing here, so I'm here for the long term." 

Those are the famous last words for most major college head coaches, but Dantonio seems genuine in his desire to build Michigan State into a Big Ten power. He had a similar response about Michigan State when we talked back in April, though he wasn't as definitive. 

You got a new contract in December. It seems like you're putting down some roots here. Is that how you thought it would be when you decided to come back?

MD: That's how it was going to be when we came back here. As a family, we don't look to move. We went to Cincinnati, had never really been to Cincinnati, but it was an opportunity to be a head coach. There were only probably two places that I would go, and that would be here or 'the other place,' as [Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel] put it to me. I said, 'I don't know,' and he's like, 'There's only two places, and I'm not leaving.' I think we had limited success at Cincinnati, but I knew this was a place where I knew people. Our family had roots here. I knew my children could be happy. I knew my wife would be happy. I knew I was going to work for an athletic director -- I knew Mark [Hollis] was going to be the guy -- and we had a relationship before. Tom Izzo and I had a relationship before. I knew all the secretaries. I knew the trainers, I knew the managers, I knew everybody. So it was a place where I could come back and feel at ease and at home. We've had a limited amount of success early because of the coaching staff's ability, because of my knowledge of this place and having been here, and because of the resources around us here.

Can this be a destination job?

MD: Yes, that's how I looked at it. It is a destination job. If you read the fine print, that's it. I'm 53. I'd like to coach here seven, eight years, as long as I can hang. But you've got to win.

Michigan State fans shouldn't worry about losing Dantonio in the near future, but he would have a very tough time turning down Ohio State, should the Buckeyes come calling.

Ohio State is the only place I see him leaving for, especially given his history with the program and with Tressel. A lot could depend on how long Tressel wants to coach, but he doesn't seem like a guy who wants to be doing this well into his sixties. If Tressel steps down after his current contract expires, Dantonio would be in his late 50s and a prime candidate to head home to Ohio. But a lot could change from now until then, and Dantonio could very well remain at Michigan State for the remainder of his career.