Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio holds press conference following resignation

Michigan State Head Football Mark Dantonio is retiring from MSU after 13 years leading the Spartans.

Dantonio announced his retirement on his Twitter account around 2:45 Tuesday.

Coach Dantonio thanked "all Spartans" for making his dreams come true.

In his statement, he thanks fans, alumni, and the administration for the past 13 years at the university. 

"Every February since 2007, I have reset this program for preparation for the next year's challenges. After much reflection and discussion with my family, I feel that it is now time for change as we enter into a new decade of Michigan State Football," his statement read, in part.

Dantonio has a record of 114-57 as head coach of the Spartans including three Big Ten championships, the most recent of which came in 2015.

He was hired to lead the Spartans in 2006 after leading Cincinnati in two seasons to a bowl game victory. He was the 24th head coach of the Spartans and, in his first year on the MSU sidelines, he led them to their best season since 2003 with a 7-5 record. 

That Spartan team went to a bowl game for the first time in four years, losing to Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.

The following year, the Spartans went 9-4 with a Capital One bowl loss. In 2009, the team seemed to take a step back, going 6-7 with an Alamo bowl appearance. 

By 2010 though, Dantonio had his team excelling on the field. That team went 11-2 (7-1 in Big Ten) and again went to the Capital One Bowl but lost. In 2011, the Spartans were 11-3 with an appearance in the first Big Ten Championship game. In 2011, MSU beat Ohio State in Columbus for the first time since 1998 and upset Wisconsin on a last-second Hail Mary from Kirk Cousins. That team also won the first bowl game of his career at MSU and was the start of four straight bowl wins. 

In 2012, MSU lost four home games in the Big Ten and, while giving up just 16.3 points per game, it struggled to score. 

The next year, the team bounced back to an 11-1 record with convincing wins over Michigan (29-6) and Nebraska (41-28) plus a 34-24 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, snapping OSU's 24-game win streak and propelling MSU to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1988. 

The Spartans won that game, 24-20, over the Standford Cardinal and Dantonio was named coach of the year.

In 2014, the Spartans finished at 10-2 and ranked #8 in the nation which included rallying from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl against Baylor.

The next year was Dantonio's best, finishing at 11-1 including wins over Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, and undefeated Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game. The Spartans wound up playing in the NCAA College Football Playoff against Alabama but lost 38-0.

2016 was Dantonio's worst season and the Spartans' worst in 30 years as the team finished 1-8.

In 2017, the program seemed to be heading in the right direction with a 10-3 finish including wins over Penn State and Michigan. 

However, 2018 did not continue that trend with the Spartans narrowly beating unranked Utah State, but losing to Michigan, Ohio State, and Nebraska. The Spartans finished 7-6 and lost in the Redbox Bowl against Oregon by a score of 7 to 6.

2019 was similar with the Spartans finishing at 7-6. That year, however, they went on to win the Pinstripe Bowl over Wake Forest.