Disappointed Connor Cook vows to lead despite no captain title

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Connor Cook said he was disappointed his teammates didn't vote him among the team's three captains this season.

The Spartans selected fifth-year seniors Shilique Calhoun, Darien Harris and Jack Allen as their captains last week. Cook is on the team's 12-man leadership council, but he did not make the cut for captain.

"Obviously it stinks not to be captain," Cook said Tuesday afternoon. "But that's why we have the leadership council -- those 12 guys. Coach [Mark Dantonio] really likes to not just have three guys leading, but 12. We've got such a deep senior class, too."

Calhoun, Harris and Allen told reporters in East Lansing last week that Cook easily could have been selected over any of them and that the team sees him as leader. Dantonio also noted that he believes Cook is in charge of the offense.

"He drives the car, the truck, the train, pilots the plane, however you want to term it," Dantonio said.

Cook is entering his third season as a starter for the Spartans. He threw for 3,214 yards and 24 touchdowns last season to lead a group that ranked seventh in the country in points per game. He said he's felt like a leader for the past two years, and being passed up for a captain's role won't change that.

"We're not all about the titles and stuff like that," he said. "I for sure want to be captain, but it's not going to limit me from leading. I think for the position that I'm in, being a quarterback here, that's already assumed. I've been a leader here, I've been a leader since I've been starting here."