Saban, Dantonio have long history

01-01-11 -- Orlando, FL -- Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio and Alabama head coach Nick Saban talk after the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Saturday, Jan.1, 2011. Alabama defeated Michigan State 49 to 7. (Michelle Lepianka Carter / Tuscaloosa News)ATLANTA | The ties between Nick Saban and Mark Dantonio start long before they worked together in East Lansing for four years. Before Dantonio was Saban's defensive coordinator at Michigan State, he was a Kent State recruit.

"I remember Mark when he played at Zanesville High School," Saban said. "I was the coach that recruited that area."

Dantonio and Saban didn't connect at Kent State; he went to South Carolina. But Dantonio smiled when…