Mark Dantonio has turned to an old coaching friend to fill a hole on his Michigan State coaching staff.
The football program announced Monday that Don Treadwell has been hired by the Spartans as the football program’s 10th assistant. As for his duties, the school’s release states that “Treadwell will assist coaching defensive backs and special teams while also helping as an offensive consultant.” On top of that, he will hold the newly-created title of freshman head coach, a role that will see the veteran work with “first-year players in their growth and development both on and off the field.”
Treadwell was Dantonio’s offensive coordinator at MSU from 2007-10 after serving in the same capacity for the head coach at Cincinnati from 2004-06. He also had another stint with the Spartans, as wide receivers coach from 2000-02. Dantonio was on that staff in 2000 as defensive backs coach.
The two also worked on the same staff together at Youngstown State in the eighties.
“He has a wealth of football knowledge, including head coaching experience, so he really understands the big picture of everything that is going on within the program,” Dantonio said in a statement. “Don was a part of our first Big Ten Championship and double-digit win season in 2010 and was the person in charge during my absence that year. He did an absolutely incredible job leading the program when I was gone.
“As a person, he’s extremely loyal and has a strong sense of integrity and morals. He understands the Spartan values that we have in our program from having been here before and knowing our staff.”
Treadwell left MSU after the 2010 season to take over as the head coach at Miami of Ohio. He was fired after the fifth game of his third season, compiling an 8-21 record during his time at his alma mater.
The past four seasons, Treadwell was on the staff at Kent State. He was the running backs coach in 2014 and coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2015-17 for the Golden Flashes.
