Michigan State University Athletics
Riley Bullough Feature: All In The Family
11/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Kellie Van Maele, MSU Athletic Communications Student Assistant
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- You can hear it in the huddle, you can hear it on the sidelines and you can hear it echoing off of the walls in the Duffy Daugherty practice facility - Riley Bullough's tenacious yell. The fifth-year senior linebacker does not hold back when it comes to football, simply because it is his life. His passion for the sport exudes wherever he is.
He prides himself on bringing enthusiasm and energy to every practice and every game not only because of his love of the sport, but because of the family legacy he is a part of.
At Michigan State, when you wear a uniform with the name Bullough on the back, you become a part of an elite group. The colors green and white have represented the Bulloughs for three generations now, and Riley does not foresee that ending any time soon.
"I've loved football from day one," Bullough said. "All of us, obviously, in the Bullough family play football, so when I was in third grade I was just the next one in line to start."
The family's East Lansing roots trace back to the 1950's, when Hank Bullough, Riley's paternal grandfather, was a guard for the Spartans. With three national titles, one in 1952 as a player and two as the defensive coordinator in 1965 and 1966, Hank's success at MSU sparked a passion for MSU football still evident in the family over 60 years later.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, Shane, each time Riley suits up in the Green and White, he does not take it for granted.
"It's been awesome being here and especially being named a captain this year, that was something very special to me," Bullough said. "When I was getting recruited in high school, I did go visit some places just to see what was out there, but I felt like I couldn't go anywhere else but here. I've been going to games here since I was born; it only made sense."
His connection with the coaching staff and players was almost immediate, and now in his last season donning the Green and White, Riley promises to fulfill his duties as a captain.
Along with Tyler O'Connor and Demetrious Cox, Bullough appreciates the trust that his team put in him to elect him as a captain.
"Once we were voted captains, I remember one of the coaches came up to us and said, ‘Now that you're captains, don't change anything that you've done, because that's how you got here.' I think that just speaks to us," Bullough said. "The energy and passion we bring every day, trying to keep people positive â€" that's what we've done and that's what our teammates have looked for from us for sure."
Riley's leadership has also been influenced by his older brother, Max, who was a Spartan from 2010-2013 and now plays for the Houston Texans. The brothers played on the Spartan gridiron for two years together, which Riley credits a lot of his learning to.
"When I first started at MSU, Max told me it was going to be a lot of hard work. I've learned that you have to be willing to put in the work, but at the same time it's a lot of fun, so you just have to balance it. Just talking to Max all the time before I got here â€" I loved that he enjoyed it so much. It made me even more excited." In true Bullough fashion, Riley is now a mentor to his younger brother, Byron, a linebacker who joined the Spartan squad in 2014.
"I try to be there for all the guys in the linebacker room," Riley said. "Guys like Byron, he's getting older now, but I think about when he first got here. I like to watch film with them and try to teach them what I've learned. The older guys, though, we're at the point now where we can bounce ideas off of each other and just learn as much as we can."
The family tradition continues off of the field as well, as parents Shane and LeeAnn are always on the road, following the Spartans both home and away.
For six seasons now, the Bulloughs have become overly familiar with the three-hour drive from Traverse City to East Lansing, but their presence in the stands at Spartan Stadium does not go unnoticed.
"They're constantly traveling," Riley said of his parents. "But it's so nice to have people here that support you. No matter if it's home or away, it just means a lot to have that support from them that we've really had our whole lives."
Along with the unwavering support from his parents, Bullough also is quick to credit the steadfast support he's gotten from head coach Mark Dantonio.
Bullough was recruited by Dantonio in high school and began a relationship with him before he even stepped out onto the Spartan turf. To Bullough, that shows how much Dantonio truly cares about his team.
"Coach D always tells it like it is and that's what I like about him," Bullough said. "We are kind of stuck in a corner right now as a program and coming and trying to have energy and passion every single day can be hard, but me as a captain and him as a head coach, it's something that we both continue to do no matter what happens. That's definitely the kind of person he is."
As Bullough prepares for his last game in Spartan Stadium, the memories of Big Ten championships, the Rose Bowl, trophies and confetti all come rushing back to him, but he credits the past success he's had at Michigan State to the success he hopes to have in the future.
Whether on or off the field, Michigan State football has shaped Bullough as a person, and he is confident that Coach Dantonio has put him in the best position to spread the Bullough legacy beyond East Lansing.
"The best piece of advice I've ever gotten was from Coach D and that was to ‘always keep moving forward. You can never look into the past.' That's really stuck with me during my time here. There's been ups and downs, but at the same time I've learned so much in my time here and I can't thank him enough for that."
