Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Football Update: Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Ross Els Media Teleconference Transcript
4/9/2020 5:55:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State special teams coordinator/linebackers coach Ross Els answered questions from reporters on a media teleconference on Thursday afternoon. Els shared his thoughts on his special teams philosophy, his return to the Big Ten Conference, and the leadership that senior linebacker Antjuan Simmons has showed in the offseason.
A transcript from the call is below:
Michigan State Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Ross Els
On coaching a position that doesn't have a lot of experience and depth outside of Antjuan Simmons, with limited access this spring after getting hired on Feb. 24…
I saw one workout of strength and conditioning and the rest has just been game film from last year which hasn't been a ton. Obviously with Antjuan (Simmons) coming back – smartest guy in the room. Runs the best, I do know that. Fearless leader. Glad to have him back – he was the leading tackler; so that's obviously a good thing. I know Noah Harvey has had some good reps, was in a lot of plays last year, so I'm excited to see what Noah can do. Then you've got a couple of other guys who are sprinkled in there, Jeslord Boateng, Chase Kline and then a whole bunch of other dudes that haven't played yet. It's going to be interesting. Everyone in the country is kind of in that boat. The maybe, special situations for us obviously is that a few of us on the defensive side of the ball were not here previously so we don't know a lot about these kids as far as playing abilities.
On being back in the Big Ten after stints at Purdue (2016) and Nebraska (2011-14) …
It was quite the deal when Coach Tucker decided to leave and then I got the phone call from him saying that he wanted me to join him up here. It was really a great phone call to have. I have the utmost respect for this university here at Michigan State, for the football program, having gone against them a few times at Nebraska. Just a tremendous work ethic, an attitude of toughness, an attitude of doing things right, so I'm very excited about that. Then when I saw the staff that he was putting together here, it was a no-brainer. It was a no-brainer to get up here. I just can't wait until my family and I can actually move up there which was going to be the beginning of May and we get back into the office eventually whenever that is and actually get to some serious football work.
On the coaches who have been here, especially Coach Tressel, who has worked with the linebackers…
Those guys are outstanding and they are such team players. Not only Mike Tressel, but certainly Ron Burton and Harlon Barnett coming back after a two year absence. Those guys are fantastic from a personnel standpoint, from a scheme standpoint, just advice about these guys. I think (Coach Tucker) Tuck did a really good job of getting a mix of guys that he knew that he wanted and guys that were already here. I know just in our defensive meetings and special teams meetings, they've been great – all of them have been great and I've really enjoyed the staff so far.
On his philosophy on special teams and if areas will be divvied up to other coaches…
As far as a general philosophy, no different from anybody else, we want to run, we want to be aggressive and as tough as we can; we're not a passive special team unit. As far as the personnel we have right now, I'm excited because whenever you have good defense, you usually have good special teams. I think Michigan State is known for their strong defense so we should be good in the special team area also. We do have some specialists positions to fill; that's one of my biggest concerns right now. I don't know who our punt returner is going to be; I don't know who our punter is going to be. I'm assuming Matt (Coghlin) will come back 100 percent and be ready to do a great job as our kicker, but I don't know who our kickoff guy is going to be so that's going to be interesting. Then as far as divvying up responsibilities, we will do that. We're getting through the introductory phase right now with our players, so I'm not ready to say who's going to do what unit, etcetera. The coaches have bought in; they've been great in meetings, a lot of advice because a lot of guys have done a lot of special teams work, this is a veteran staff, and they're all excited about special teams.
On who has potential to be in the punt and kickoff roles…
Nope, no idea (laughing). I haven't seen them run; I've seen the linebackers run. I haven't seen a kicker kick or a punter punt or a running back run. The one day I saw them work out, I wouldn't have a clue who they were. I have absolutely no idea who that's going to be when we get to that phase we'll have a list of guys. Maybe after a couple weeks of practice, I hope we should know that guy. Absolutely no idea of who that's going to be.
On his preference of putting starters on special teams…
One of the great things about working for a guy like Mel Tucker is he understands the importance of special teams. Working with him for the year I did at Colorado, he's never said 'don't use this guy.' Now we're going to use common sense on offense, defense and special teams to make sure that they're not overplayed but that doesn't mean special teams will take the backseat. To answer your question, everybody is up for grabs; everybody's going to be available, we made that very clear to the team, both the head coach and myself. It gives them an opportunity to continue to do some of the skills that they do at their position. If they're a wide receiver that blocks, they're going to block on kickoff return. If they're a running back that runs, they're going to run the football. It also helps their resume also because everybody in the NFL if you're a specialist are going to play on special teams. Everybody's up for grabs, we'll be smart about it and not overuse people, but we get the best that are available.
On his philosophy to change the kickoff, punt return struggles…
I think you've got to be careful when you look at punt return stats. The most important thing about a punt return is getting the ball back to the offense and not creating something stupid. When I hear of some programs are great punt returns and all that or they block all these punts, but they had three roughing the punter penalties. I'm not saying one philosophy is better than the other, I'm just hearing some negativity toward Michigan State and I have not watched any of their film so I don't know what they have done well or they haven't, that's not my job. I can tell you this though, without saying exactly how we're going to do things, is we will be aggressive. We will be aggressive in return games, we'll be aggressive in coverage games. What you do, you asked specifically about punt returns, what you decide to do, to me, is dictated by the opponent. If they're a bad protection team, we'll come after them. If they're a bad coverage team, we probably won't. If they're very sound, we'll mix it up. It just depends with the opponent gives you. We'll have the opportunity; our kids will have the opportunity to do both. Set up returns, go after punts, it just depends on what the opponent gives us and how good we are at holding people up, how good are we at returning, how good are we at bursting off the line of scrimmage, how good are we at blocking punts. It's going to be a while before I know the answers of us, and then we can go to the opponent and find out what they do poorly.
On his recruiting areas in Michigan and nationally and how recruiting is going…
Right now, I'm not in the state of Michigan. I'll go into Chicago and in Ohio go into the Youngstown area. As of right now, we're doing some area of recruiting but we're doing a lot more because we're so far behind in recruiting that we're doing a lot more position-type stuff. I think the areas that we're going to stick for or at least that I will have. Recruiting is going very well. When you work with a guy like Mel Tucker, that's going to be first and foremost on his list, mainly because we don't have a lot of practice film to watch, practices to get ready for so you better spent most of your time recruiting. We're making up a lot of ground. You're going to hear a lot of us this year, the next year, in the future, it's all going to start in the state of Michigan, no question about it. I'm excited about the things that we can sell here at Michigan State.
On being back in the Big Ten and the advantage of being at Michigan State after having coached at Nebraska and Purdue…
Maybe familiar with some of the coaches that were here, the last time I was in the Big Ten was 2016, so some of the guys are still here so that helps. Where it really helps is in the recruiting process. I was at Ohio University for six years with Frank Solich so for example, I talked to a high school coach in Columbus, Ohio, last night; that was one of the schools that I stopped all the time. It was like the good-old-days. I think that's probably my biggest advantage is I have recruited this area before and again a couple guys with schemes maybe. I just know what the Big Ten delivers; I mean, physical, smart football. That's what we play in this league. I'm glad to be back in it, I really am.
On making it to the Big Ten Championship in 2012 with Nebraska and how much it means and how determined to get back to Indianapolis with Michigan State…
Well, that's always the goal. Right, that's always the goal. Thank you for bringing that up because Wisconsin scored 70 on us (laughing), that was awful, that was a rough, rough day but we did make it. I mean, that's the goal. If you don't make it, it's not a good enough year. That's what we're shooting for certainly, then beyond. Why not win that thing? Why not get into the playoff? Why not win a National Championship? With the resources that Michigan State is providing, with the reputation that Michigan State has, with the coaching staff that's here, with the athletes that are here, that's the way we're going to think and we're going to think that way every single year. We hope to be back there in December or whenever that happens.
On Antjuan Simmons playing some middle linebacker last season and some outside, and what position he will play…
That's to be determined. I'm not going to talk any schemes at all because obviously we're not going to give anything away. Let's just put it this way, Antjuan can do wherever we want Antjuan to play. Antjuan can play in the box, can play outside, he can rush the passer, he can cover; he's a special individual. Not just because he can move and he's tough; he's also very intelligent; very intelligent and a great leader. There's going to be a lot of expectations on him, there already is and he's handling it well. We'll see when we get to Northwestern (on Sept. 5) exactly where he's going to line up.
On if he ever thought to get back into head coaching…
Gosh no (laughing). Do you know what these guys go through all day long? They're putting out fires all day long (laughing). I want to coach ball. It'll happen again, I think, but I'm really, really happy where I am right now. To be able to work with a guy like Mel, and Scottie Hazelton; he's been phenomenal. Scottie is an incredible defensive coordinator and has a lot of success. He leaves a lot of things open to 'how do you guys want to do this, do you want to do this?' I'm in such a good position right now I'm not looking to go back to that head coaching gig right now.
On if Matt Coghlin was dealing with an injury…
No, not an injury. I just know that Matt had a great year two years ago and this year, at least on paper, not as good. But we have a lot of confidence in Matt, I mean, he's going to line up there, he's going to win some games for us. Games in this league are going to go down to the wire. No, no injuries, doing well. He's a leader in that room too, that's what I like about Matt. When I first met him, he goes, 'Coach put this room on my shoulders; I'll take care of these guys and get them ready to go.' We're excited with Matt's future.
On with Jack Bouwmeester leaving the program and where that leaves the punting game….
Great question, no answer. Never seen a punt (here at MSU this year). Don't know who's going to be the guy lining up there. I don't even know if Jack (Bouwmeester) would've been the guy. I have no idea. Again, I haven't seen these guys punt any punts yet. I guarantee that if we have to punt, we will have somebody back there to kick the ball; I just don't know who it is yet (laughing).
A transcript from the call is below:
Michigan State Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Ross Els
On coaching a position that doesn't have a lot of experience and depth outside of Antjuan Simmons, with limited access this spring after getting hired on Feb. 24…
I saw one workout of strength and conditioning and the rest has just been game film from last year which hasn't been a ton. Obviously with Antjuan (Simmons) coming back – smartest guy in the room. Runs the best, I do know that. Fearless leader. Glad to have him back – he was the leading tackler; so that's obviously a good thing. I know Noah Harvey has had some good reps, was in a lot of plays last year, so I'm excited to see what Noah can do. Then you've got a couple of other guys who are sprinkled in there, Jeslord Boateng, Chase Kline and then a whole bunch of other dudes that haven't played yet. It's going to be interesting. Everyone in the country is kind of in that boat. The maybe, special situations for us obviously is that a few of us on the defensive side of the ball were not here previously so we don't know a lot about these kids as far as playing abilities.
On being back in the Big Ten after stints at Purdue (2016) and Nebraska (2011-14) …
It was quite the deal when Coach Tucker decided to leave and then I got the phone call from him saying that he wanted me to join him up here. It was really a great phone call to have. I have the utmost respect for this university here at Michigan State, for the football program, having gone against them a few times at Nebraska. Just a tremendous work ethic, an attitude of toughness, an attitude of doing things right, so I'm very excited about that. Then when I saw the staff that he was putting together here, it was a no-brainer. It was a no-brainer to get up here. I just can't wait until my family and I can actually move up there which was going to be the beginning of May and we get back into the office eventually whenever that is and actually get to some serious football work.
On the coaches who have been here, especially Coach Tressel, who has worked with the linebackers…
Those guys are outstanding and they are such team players. Not only Mike Tressel, but certainly Ron Burton and Harlon Barnett coming back after a two year absence. Those guys are fantastic from a personnel standpoint, from a scheme standpoint, just advice about these guys. I think (Coach Tucker) Tuck did a really good job of getting a mix of guys that he knew that he wanted and guys that were already here. I know just in our defensive meetings and special teams meetings, they've been great – all of them have been great and I've really enjoyed the staff so far.
On his philosophy on special teams and if areas will be divvied up to other coaches…
As far as a general philosophy, no different from anybody else, we want to run, we want to be aggressive and as tough as we can; we're not a passive special team unit. As far as the personnel we have right now, I'm excited because whenever you have good defense, you usually have good special teams. I think Michigan State is known for their strong defense so we should be good in the special team area also. We do have some specialists positions to fill; that's one of my biggest concerns right now. I don't know who our punt returner is going to be; I don't know who our punter is going to be. I'm assuming Matt (Coghlin) will come back 100 percent and be ready to do a great job as our kicker, but I don't know who our kickoff guy is going to be so that's going to be interesting. Then as far as divvying up responsibilities, we will do that. We're getting through the introductory phase right now with our players, so I'm not ready to say who's going to do what unit, etcetera. The coaches have bought in; they've been great in meetings, a lot of advice because a lot of guys have done a lot of special teams work, this is a veteran staff, and they're all excited about special teams.
On who has potential to be in the punt and kickoff roles…
Nope, no idea (laughing). I haven't seen them run; I've seen the linebackers run. I haven't seen a kicker kick or a punter punt or a running back run. The one day I saw them work out, I wouldn't have a clue who they were. I have absolutely no idea who that's going to be when we get to that phase we'll have a list of guys. Maybe after a couple weeks of practice, I hope we should know that guy. Absolutely no idea of who that's going to be.
On his preference of putting starters on special teams…
One of the great things about working for a guy like Mel Tucker is he understands the importance of special teams. Working with him for the year I did at Colorado, he's never said 'don't use this guy.' Now we're going to use common sense on offense, defense and special teams to make sure that they're not overplayed but that doesn't mean special teams will take the backseat. To answer your question, everybody is up for grabs; everybody's going to be available, we made that very clear to the team, both the head coach and myself. It gives them an opportunity to continue to do some of the skills that they do at their position. If they're a wide receiver that blocks, they're going to block on kickoff return. If they're a running back that runs, they're going to run the football. It also helps their resume also because everybody in the NFL if you're a specialist are going to play on special teams. Everybody's up for grabs, we'll be smart about it and not overuse people, but we get the best that are available.
On his philosophy to change the kickoff, punt return struggles…
I think you've got to be careful when you look at punt return stats. The most important thing about a punt return is getting the ball back to the offense and not creating something stupid. When I hear of some programs are great punt returns and all that or they block all these punts, but they had three roughing the punter penalties. I'm not saying one philosophy is better than the other, I'm just hearing some negativity toward Michigan State and I have not watched any of their film so I don't know what they have done well or they haven't, that's not my job. I can tell you this though, without saying exactly how we're going to do things, is we will be aggressive. We will be aggressive in return games, we'll be aggressive in coverage games. What you do, you asked specifically about punt returns, what you decide to do, to me, is dictated by the opponent. If they're a bad protection team, we'll come after them. If they're a bad coverage team, we probably won't. If they're very sound, we'll mix it up. It just depends with the opponent gives you. We'll have the opportunity; our kids will have the opportunity to do both. Set up returns, go after punts, it just depends on what the opponent gives us and how good we are at holding people up, how good are we at returning, how good are we at bursting off the line of scrimmage, how good are we at blocking punts. It's going to be a while before I know the answers of us, and then we can go to the opponent and find out what they do poorly.
On his recruiting areas in Michigan and nationally and how recruiting is going…
Right now, I'm not in the state of Michigan. I'll go into Chicago and in Ohio go into the Youngstown area. As of right now, we're doing some area of recruiting but we're doing a lot more because we're so far behind in recruiting that we're doing a lot more position-type stuff. I think the areas that we're going to stick for or at least that I will have. Recruiting is going very well. When you work with a guy like Mel Tucker, that's going to be first and foremost on his list, mainly because we don't have a lot of practice film to watch, practices to get ready for so you better spent most of your time recruiting. We're making up a lot of ground. You're going to hear a lot of us this year, the next year, in the future, it's all going to start in the state of Michigan, no question about it. I'm excited about the things that we can sell here at Michigan State.
On being back in the Big Ten and the advantage of being at Michigan State after having coached at Nebraska and Purdue…
Maybe familiar with some of the coaches that were here, the last time I was in the Big Ten was 2016, so some of the guys are still here so that helps. Where it really helps is in the recruiting process. I was at Ohio University for six years with Frank Solich so for example, I talked to a high school coach in Columbus, Ohio, last night; that was one of the schools that I stopped all the time. It was like the good-old-days. I think that's probably my biggest advantage is I have recruited this area before and again a couple guys with schemes maybe. I just know what the Big Ten delivers; I mean, physical, smart football. That's what we play in this league. I'm glad to be back in it, I really am.
On making it to the Big Ten Championship in 2012 with Nebraska and how much it means and how determined to get back to Indianapolis with Michigan State…
Well, that's always the goal. Right, that's always the goal. Thank you for bringing that up because Wisconsin scored 70 on us (laughing), that was awful, that was a rough, rough day but we did make it. I mean, that's the goal. If you don't make it, it's not a good enough year. That's what we're shooting for certainly, then beyond. Why not win that thing? Why not get into the playoff? Why not win a National Championship? With the resources that Michigan State is providing, with the reputation that Michigan State has, with the coaching staff that's here, with the athletes that are here, that's the way we're going to think and we're going to think that way every single year. We hope to be back there in December or whenever that happens.
On Antjuan Simmons playing some middle linebacker last season and some outside, and what position he will play…
That's to be determined. I'm not going to talk any schemes at all because obviously we're not going to give anything away. Let's just put it this way, Antjuan can do wherever we want Antjuan to play. Antjuan can play in the box, can play outside, he can rush the passer, he can cover; he's a special individual. Not just because he can move and he's tough; he's also very intelligent; very intelligent and a great leader. There's going to be a lot of expectations on him, there already is and he's handling it well. We'll see when we get to Northwestern (on Sept. 5) exactly where he's going to line up.
On if he ever thought to get back into head coaching…
Gosh no (laughing). Do you know what these guys go through all day long? They're putting out fires all day long (laughing). I want to coach ball. It'll happen again, I think, but I'm really, really happy where I am right now. To be able to work with a guy like Mel, and Scottie Hazelton; he's been phenomenal. Scottie is an incredible defensive coordinator and has a lot of success. He leaves a lot of things open to 'how do you guys want to do this, do you want to do this?' I'm in such a good position right now I'm not looking to go back to that head coaching gig right now.
On if Matt Coghlin was dealing with an injury…
No, not an injury. I just know that Matt had a great year two years ago and this year, at least on paper, not as good. But we have a lot of confidence in Matt, I mean, he's going to line up there, he's going to win some games for us. Games in this league are going to go down to the wire. No, no injuries, doing well. He's a leader in that room too, that's what I like about Matt. When I first met him, he goes, 'Coach put this room on my shoulders; I'll take care of these guys and get them ready to go.' We're excited with Matt's future.
On with Jack Bouwmeester leaving the program and where that leaves the punting game….
Great question, no answer. Never seen a punt (here at MSU this year). Don't know who's going to be the guy lining up there. I don't even know if Jack (Bouwmeester) would've been the guy. I have no idea. Again, I haven't seen these guys punt any punts yet. I guarantee that if we have to punt, we will have somebody back there to kick the ball; I just don't know who it is yet (laughing).
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