Football Media Day: Defense

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

8/5/2019 7:21:00 PM | Football

Michigan State held its annual media day Monday afternoon in the Izzo Family Media Center inside Spartan Stadium.

Below are selected quotes from the defensive players and coaches that spoke at media day.

Senior LB Joe Bachie
On the work the defense has been putting in…
How are we going to play, how hard are we going to work, do we want to be as good as last year if not better, but you're always trying to get better and that's always our goal. Two years ago we were number two at rush defense and last year we were number one. We just keep building on it.

On the defense's improvement…
Last year we weren't a great defense, we were a good defense in a lot of aspects. We had a chance to be great. If you look at our fourth quarters, we struggled a couple times and two games I know off the top of my head so there's a lot of improvement for us just like the offense, but if we both pick up our game, I think that we can be a championship team.

On being one of the best defenses in the nation…
We have to believe it because if we don't believe it, why should anyone else. We're going to come to work every day and we're not going to have 'we're better than everyone else' on our minds. We are just going to go out and play just like we have something to prove every day.

On what it's like being back with the team…
It's awesome because we've got everyone back. In the spring we were missing Kenny (Willekes), obviously a key part to our defense, but everyone's back and healthy right now and we're just rolling with it; we're having fun out there and we wanted to be there which is the best thing to have especially during fall camp. We'll talk about it two weeks down the road when stuff starts getting hard like our guys are going to bring it every day.

On the biggest reason he came back for his final year…
One was the academic side, I want to graduate and then number two, I've never been to Indy (Indianapolis, site of the Big Ten Championship game). That's our goal this year. We already have high expectations; high standards and we're going to give everything we've got to get there.

On the bond of this team…
Relationships are built on trust. The bonds that we have out there you know I'm going to trust the guy behind me just the same as I'm going to trust the guy in front of me. We all know what we're doing, we have two plus years of experienced starters, so this should be any exciting year and obviously trust is a huge thing.

Senior LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle
On if he sees his role growing on the team this year...
Definitely, my role on the team has grown. I had four sacks last year so I want to do more than that. I also want to do more with my pass rush and get more sacks and things like that. I'm not going to be just a third-down linebacker, but more of an every-down backer.

On the competition with Tyriq Thompson...
There's definitely competition right now. I'm playing both sides so we'll have to see how it all shakes out. I need to be prepared for everything.

On where his confidence is at right now...
My confidence is good right now and my body feels good too. We're expecting great things this year and we're keeping it moving.

On the coaching shuffle and how the team has adapted...
The offense looks really good, they're working together. The coaches on the offensive staff switched around but it was good for the team and I think everybody's working well with that group. Coaches are working well with that group and athletes are working well with those coaches. You can see that the offense is doing a great job.

On how good it feels that everyone is healthy...
It feels good. Obviously, we had some injuries, but they look healthy now. It looks like our offense will get rolling this year. We're expecting really good things from the offense, the defense and the team as a whole.

Senior CB Josh Butler
On Josh Butler TV…
I pretty much do a lot of things. I'm real big into videography, and I try to make whatever. I put all my teammates and stuff in it, and I try to just have a real good time with it.

On a teammate bonding and leadership…
A bond is like no other. When I was younger, I took a big leadership role. Taking that experience really helped me have responsibility. It helped me mature a lot.

Senior S David Dowell
On how he's feeling heading into the season...
I'm just really looking forward to it, it'll be my last year. Being a fifth-year senior, I've been through everything before. I know what do to so it's all about executing, making plays and winning games.

On how excited he is for the team to have the opportunity to fly under the radar and surprise people...
I don't think we're really worried about all of that, the rankings and such. We're just worried about getting better each and every day. That's one thing we really pride ourselves on doing. That's what I pride myself on, so that's all we're really focused on, the rest will take care of itself.

On what he's seen from Antjuan Simmons...
Antjuan has been great. He brings a lot of energy every single day. That's one thing my brother did as well, so it hasn't really been much of a drop off for me. Antjuan gets me going and we've done a great job of communicating too. That's one thing Andrew and I did as well, kind of playing off of each other, so it's been great having Antjuan back there. I'm excited to see what his first year of starting could be.

On anything he's trying to accomplish this season as an individual...
Just to turn the ball over more. My sophomore year I did a good job of doing that and I had some success. Last year I was good, but I want to get some more production and help my team to score off more of those turnovers and put our team in the best position to win.

Junior DE Jacob Panasiuk
On his main priority for this season...
Personally, I took pash rushes this offseason and made it my focus. I lost about 15 pounds and me becoming faster and with my pash rush improvement, I really want to improve this season; Those are my main goals. With a lot of running after practice and eating a lot better I got down to 245.

On overcoming his injuries...
I want to become a player that my team can work off me and I can work off them. Mentally this season was hard not so much physically; it was difficult getting over my previous injuries. Freshman year I hurt my ankle and last year I hurt my shoulder so I think that mentally I have become a lot stronger when it comes to football. My emotional standpoint is where I have to become better especially when overcoming injury adversity.

On pass rushing...
Me, Kenny (Willekes), Raequan (Williams) and Mike (Panasiuk) all have been working on pass rushing, learning things off each other and learning different pass rush moves. It is our goal to become the number one pass rush defense in the country.

Senior DT Mike Panasiuk
On being ready to get season started…
I mean that's what I've been waiting for (putting pads on). I've got one more year left this year and that's all that I've been waiting for. It's just been biting me and biting me and biting me. I'm just ready to go.

On brothers being each other's biggest fan…
The past couple years ever since growing up being on the same team with him it's just been a bond that can't be broken. I mean lifetime; forever. He's my brother for life. Playing with him on the same line has just been a blessing, and I couldn't be more thankful.

On parents being amazing people and appreciation…
That's one thing that a lot of people don't know about me. The background and where my family is from. I try to look at what they've done for myself and my brothers… I just try to do that and just become like them.

On if defense can be better…
Oh definitely. There's so much more improvement. If we were perfect and couldn't improve then we'd all be All-Americans… just like Kenny (Willekes).

On how big a score would be for him…
It would be a dream come true. Everyday I'm working out there no matter what. If it's a sack or a scoop score. I'm always working on my dance moves (laughing).

Junior CB Josiah Scott
On what film you watch…
We watch a bunch of everything. We watch practices that we just had; we watch games from back then from 2018 to 2017. We even watch defenses from 2013, and that was a focus point for me this summer. Watching that defense and seeing how they play and comparing it to us and see how we can get back to that caliber defense, a championship type of team.

On the 2013 defense…
They trusted each other each and every single play. Everyone new their assignments; they knew the play faster so they could destruct it. They knew how to get after it. They knew how to make their opponents fear them.

Junior LB Antjuan Simmons
On becoming the starter…
Of course, it will be something I'm always thinking about. That's our mindset, to be the number one defense in the country. We don't play to be average, and this is something I think about every day, just going out there and trying to be a dominant competitor.

Senior LB Tyriq Thompson
On how they prepared for this season...
When we look at last season, we sat down and watched film and we realized there are things we could have done better. It is all about finding small little details to improve on so that we are on top of those moving forward into this season.

Senior DE Kenny Willekes
On the offense's improvement…
You can tell that the offense has taken it upon themselves that they want to get better. They're pushing themselves, you can see leaders stepping up on that side of the ball, and really taking ownership. They're saying that last year wasn't good enough and trying to find ways to improve this year.

On what Spartan fans can expect this year…
They can expect a loud, energetic team that's going to bring it every play.

On who the vocal leaders are on defense…
We've got a lot of players that have played on this defense and started in this defense for multiple years. It's kind of a team effort, kind of a group effort and we know what's on the line, we know what's at stake this year. We're playing for a Big Ten championship and we're practicing that way every day.

On how prepared and ready he is for the season….
I'm very excited and there's definitely a different type of energy in the building now that we're back out in camp, playing football again and we're putting the pads back on. There's an energy and a hunger about this team and we're ready to go.

On the goals for this season…
We talk about it each and every day. We're chasing a championship and we're trying to go back to Indianapolis, but we've got to win the East first obviously. It's a very stacked division. The Big Ten is, I think, one of the best conferences in college football so it's not going to be easy and we know that. We're trying to work each and every day trying to get three percent better and trying to find the way to get us back to Indy.

On how the offense and defense stays one...
We say that everything that happens on the field stays on the field. At the end of the day we're a family and there's a lot more going on than football. There's a lot of bigger things than football so what happens on the field stays on the field and at the end of the day we're all brothers.

Senior DT Raequan Williams
On how impressed he is of the team and the defense so far…
Definitely the energy that everyone comes out to play with day in and day out… every practice and every rep and every period. The enthusiasm is definitely contagious, and I'm very excited about it.

On strengths of defense…
Of course the defensive line. I'm going to go with the D-Line if I had to choose a strength it would be the D-Line for sure.

On the loss of Khari Willis and returners stepping up as vocal leaders…
There's a bunch of leaders on this defense. There's no one person that just talks to everybody. I feel like everybody talks… even Josiah (Scott) to Josh Butler to Brandon Randle. Everybody brings the energy and everybody is talking. There's not just one leader on this team or on this defense.

On excitement of putting on the game day jerseys for first time this season…
I can't wait. I can't wait.

On teammate Mike (Panasiuk) and new guys…
I keep telling the young guys that we've got some players. Some young guys are some players and if they keep working they'll have a chance to be better than me and Mike.

On if the defense can top last year's defense…
Most definitely. You can always improve. We've always got to get better and improve in everything.

On mood in defensive locker room…
We're all excited to be back playing football. It's contagious. You can tell everyone's excited in the locker room about being back in football. It's a good feeling.

On highly-rated defense...
We need to be dominant. We're motivated to be the most dominant group up front. We need to be dominant and that's the main goal for the season.

Special Teams:

Junior K Matt Coghlin
On his team interactions on the bench during games…
There's definitely a mixture. I will admit, I try and sit down a bunch, so obviously a bunch of the guys are sitting down. But I have no problem interacting and watching the game, but not getting too invested and trying to keep a low profile.

On getting ready to go in during games…
When the offense gets over the midfield line, that's when I go over to my net and start warming up. It depends how long it's been since I kicked or stretched. Usually that'll be enough. If there's that extra point, I'll do a couple extra leg swings going in. That's not too big of a deal, just trying to keep it smooth.

On how strong he feels about the special teams unit collectively…
I think we'll be really good. You know, that's a big thing especially with special teams coming back. You can kick so much in practice, but when it gets to the game, it really helps to return that experience. It's huge and I think it'll be great for us. It helps to have the cohesiveness.

On his upcoming goals to add to his resume…
I definitely have to get one over 50 yards. I've definitely been working on that in the offseason, because that's a big thing, you have to be able to hit the 50+ yarder, so I've been working on that and hopefully will get another opportunity to hit that.

Senior P Jake Hartbarger
On his extra year of eligibility…
Once I got injured, it was 6-8 weeks, so we didn't really know if it'd be season ending or not. So once it came to that point where they found out it would be season ending, they were able to get the medical.

On his motivation to get back…
Yeah, I mean, it's all my motivation. Going into last season, I had high hopes for the season and whatnot, but, I'm just trying to take off from there.

On his sense of team motivation…
I think we have a really good group of motivated guys. When I look back at the 2018 season and that leadership, I think we have some of the same characteristics in the guys now that we had then. We're really looking forward to season.

Coaches:

Defensive Ends Coach Bullough
On Adam Berghorst's recruitment…
They thought he was going to get drafted way higher, and all of a sudden he got drafted where he might get some money. He was going to be like a 20-round pick, then they grabbed him at 15 or 16 and now that changed the whole game. I've never had this baseball, football combo before.

Defensive Tackles Coach Ron Burton
On how big the emphasis is in the offseason on getting turnovers...
That's always the goal every year is to get turnovers. Turnovers are game-changers, and we'll continue to harp on it every day, individually counting them is what we do. Coach Bullough has brought some things in that have helped us. It's necessary if we want to be a top defense in the country which is one of our goals. The turnovers have to go up. We harp on it every day at practice and it's just a part of our practices.

On how nice it is to have upperclassman on the line helping younger guys...
As you know we've had similar situations in past years. Guys like Lawrence Thomas and Shilique Calhoun were there to coach the younger guys so they could have more one on one attention. So it's been big for us and I think it's necessary for them to embrace helping the young guys. It allows them to grow and mature a little faster.

On if the team embraces how good the defensive line has been...
That was 2018, this is 2019 - What we're trying to do is improve upon that. We had the number one run defense, we want the number one (overall) defense in the country. That's going to take everyone being involved in all facets of that, from pass rush, turnover margins, run defense; we need to put the puzzle together. We had some of the puzzle pieces to that defense, we want the complete package.

Secondary Coach Paul Haynes
On how rotating guys in last year can help with depth this year...
It's made it good. The best thing is competition. You know if you are the so-called starters, you better make sure you are on point because you have somebody behind you that can take your spot. Our guys are a tight-knit group and we compete like crazy together to know that if I need to tap out or come out for a play, somebody else can go in there and we won't fall off defensively.

On Josiah Scott and Josh Butler helping develop the younger defensive backs...
It really helps a lot because again there's some things you may not see as a coach that those guys can sit there and coach those guys up. There's nothing like experience getting out there and getting battle tested. It's good for them to sit there and give them game-like situations you are going to see out there and face. Josiah, David Dowell and Josh, they've all been battle tested - also, Tre Person. We've got about six or seven guys that have been into battle already, so it's good to have that experience.

Assistant Defensive Backs Coach Terrence Samuel
On some of his players this year…
Josiah (Scott) and Josh Butler all have confidence, and as they continue to progress I think the young guys are going to shine.

On Julian Barnett...
There is a lot of competition because there is such depth to the team. Barnett is going to be a hell of a player regardless if he is on offense or defense. If we can keep his head from spinning, he can play on either side of the ball; he is really, really talented and I am excited to see what he does.

Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Linebacker Coach Mike Tressel
On Jack Camper...
He has gotten bigger and stronger. He's another guy like Jacub (Panasiuk) with knowledge of the game and confidence in his knowledge of the game and his role a little bit too so I feel really good about where he's coming without a doubt. We need those 22 starters and Camper stepped up without a doubt.

On graduating special teams players and their replacements...
Not only will those guys leave some vacancies on special teams (Byron Bullough and Matt Morrissey) but that was our two-deep on defense. That's where in spring we really had to grow because those were the guys that when our guys came off the football field could coach them up. They were guys you could count on if one needed a spell; Byron Bullough, Morrissey, they knew what they were doing - even Dillon Alexander. Those guys knew what they were doing. That's what growth with our Spartans is all about. We also have to find our special teams players and we need the Chase Kline's and Jeslord Boateng's - those types of guys to step up and I think they are embracing that.

On the health of Jeslord Boateng and his status on the defense...
He's 100 percent. Right now he's a Star (weakside linebacker), he's running mostly reps with the two's at that Star spot. He's a guy that when he's blitzing, he can be a pretty scary guy. He can run and he's gotten bigger and stronger too, so he's explosive.

On other players he is excited about...
You know, you look at our secondary and I'm excited about our corner position. We played our first two-thirds of the year without Josiah Scott and Josh Butler; they both did a great job in the bowl game so I'm really excited about those guys. I'm excited about Xavier Henderson who worked from day one, who really understands football and communicates well on the football field.