About 18 years ago, Michigan State football was looking to hire its next head coach, and it landed on Mark Dantonio after taking a look at rising in-state star Brian Kelly.
Kelly was Dantonio's replacement at Cincinnati after spending a few years at Central Michigan following a successful tenure with Grand Valley State. He won back-to-back Division II national titles before Central Michigan hired him, then he went 19-16 in three years with the Chippewas before Cincinnati took him in.
After going 34-6 at Cincinnati over four years, Notre Dame came calling, and he had plenty of success there, winning 92 games (not counting the vacated victories) and even led the Irish to a national title game -- they did lose that game.