Mark Dantonio says he has 'great deal' of respect for Brady Hoke

Heading into his team's massive rivalry game with Michigan this weekend, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio was fully complimentary of Michigan adversary Brady Hoke at his Tuesday press conference according to Joe Rexrode of The Detroit Free Press.

Dantonio and his program might own the Wolverines on the gridiron at the moment, but the veteran coach spoke of being impressed with the way Hoke deals with the media when it comes to the rivalry.

"I have a great deal of respect for Brady Hoke," Dantonio said. "To be honest with you, I think Brady Hoke handles himself at times much better than I do, OK?"

The Spartans have taken down the Wolverines in each of the last four seasons, a trend that led Dantonio to utter his famous "where's the threat" comment about Michigan football back in April. Both coaches and their players have managed to keep things civil since then however, which is something that Dantonio clearly appreciates about having a guy like Hoke as one of his top rivals.

Even though Dantonio himself provided the bulk of the bulletin board material back in April, the mutual respect between these two coaches should be a common theme in interviews and press conferences leading up to Saturday's showdown.