Michigan State University Athletics
Pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan works with defensive end Khris Bogle during spring practice.
Spartans Begin Third Week of Spring Practice
3/29/2022 3:45:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team entered its third week of spring ball with its seventh practice of the spring on Tuesday morning inside the Duffy Daugherty Football Building.
The Spartans held their first scrimmage of the spring last Saturday, and will also hit the practice field this week on Thursday and Saturday.
MSU, which is allotted 15 spring practices, will conclude spring practice with the spring game on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. Admission is free.
Following Tuesday's practice, assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic and pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan met with the media to give an update on the Spartans.
Assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic
On the depth challenges during spring practice…
Yeah, I was just saying, what a difference a year makes, right? You have more than you've ever had, and now you have less than you've ever had. That's OK. The positive to it is that there's some young guys that are getting more reps than they ever would have normally had in a normal setting. We're going through our lumps at times, but they're getting better because of it. And some guys are having to play multiple positions and sometimes it's a little unfair to them, but in the long run, it's going to benefit them and us with our depth. We're doing a great job of how we're practicing and not wearing them down too much. So we're not getting the same amount of team reps that we would normally get, which is something we have to do. It's a chance for us to get good with our technique and more individual time.
On building cohesion on the o-line…
Normally, the cohesion is huge, but unfortunately, with the guys that are out right now, we're missing the cohesion with them. But the flip side of that is the experience and the depth the young guys will get, which will ultimately help our depth as the season goes. A young kid may get a third of the reps he'd get in the spring, now he's getting all of the reps, so when we get to fall camp and we get to the season, he's had a lot more reps, and maybe he wins a job, or he's pressed into service, he's had those reps and he's ready to go.
On offensive tackle Spencer Brown…
I was pleased with his progress throughout the season. We knew we had to get him ready, because, like I said, I thought I was living in a fantasy world with having that many guys (last season), and you know there's going to be attrition as the year goes on, so he played a little bit throughout the year. And then when it was his time to start in that game (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl), I thought he responded well. It was a really good front he was going against (vs. Pitt) – I think it was second or third in the country in sacks. Was (he) perfect? No, but he showed some good progress, and I thought he did some really good things, enough that you felt good going into this year that you could really believe, and this can be our guy.
On center Nick Samac…
That group last year was really like A and B, or co-starters. There was really no difference, so that's the way I saw it. After the first game in 2020, he went (started) the rest of the way, so he's got a lot of reps under his belt. He played before that as well (as a true freshman in 2019). He's playing center and guard, so he's cross training as well; in fact, he's athletic enough, we could throw him out there at tackle, if we needed to, and we even talked about it, just to get him some reps for emergency purposes. He's handled that well. And he's really trying to take over that leadership role that those older guys, like Matt (Allen) and some of those older guys had, he's really trying to be that for the guys, and he's done a nice job with that.
Pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan
On coming to Michigan State…
This has been my dream, to get back into coaching…once I got this call, I ran to it, especially at a program like this for a head coach like Coach Tucker. Just talking to him, coming here, interviewing with him, and just seeing his vision, this was the place to be.
On pass rushing skills and his journey into coaching…
Just the small details. I was a d-line coach at Austin Peay. I went back and starting training in New Orleans. During that, it made me a better coach, because I had to really start studying the game. I didn't have to worry about schemes, or anything like that. I just started studying the game. And being an o-lineman (in college), I knew what beat me as an offensive lineman. So I went back, watched a lot of film, see what worked, started working with the young guys, working with the high school guys out there, and finding a way to make those guys better. And with high school guys, they are more progression learning, there are small details with it, so it made me a better coach. If I could coach a high school guy –I could break it down for high school guys, so they could be the best that they could be – it was easy for me once I started working with the NFL guys.
On his experience as a trainer and how that helped…
I feel like every year I got better, just because as I worked and started doing it, I started finding the small details that helped the guys. It made me look at the things that made them better, and find their weaknesses – so when I find a weakness, I find a way to make their weakness strong. So I isolate the movement – if there's an upper-body violence (weakness), I'll find a way to make their upper body violent; if it's their footwork, I'll find a way to get their footwork better. And then, when I started working with those NFL guys, I started picking their brain. So dealing with Von Miller, dealing with guys like Cameron Heyward, they made me better, just picking their brain, as I made them better. So it was kind of like iron sharpens iron.
The Spartans held their first scrimmage of the spring last Saturday, and will also hit the practice field this week on Thursday and Saturday.
MSU, which is allotted 15 spring practices, will conclude spring practice with the spring game on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. Admission is free.
Following Tuesday's practice, assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic and pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan met with the media to give an update on the Spartans.
Assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic
On the depth challenges during spring practice…
Yeah, I was just saying, what a difference a year makes, right? You have more than you've ever had, and now you have less than you've ever had. That's OK. The positive to it is that there's some young guys that are getting more reps than they ever would have normally had in a normal setting. We're going through our lumps at times, but they're getting better because of it. And some guys are having to play multiple positions and sometimes it's a little unfair to them, but in the long run, it's going to benefit them and us with our depth. We're doing a great job of how we're practicing and not wearing them down too much. So we're not getting the same amount of team reps that we would normally get, which is something we have to do. It's a chance for us to get good with our technique and more individual time.
On building cohesion on the o-line…
Normally, the cohesion is huge, but unfortunately, with the guys that are out right now, we're missing the cohesion with them. But the flip side of that is the experience and the depth the young guys will get, which will ultimately help our depth as the season goes. A young kid may get a third of the reps he'd get in the spring, now he's getting all of the reps, so when we get to fall camp and we get to the season, he's had a lot more reps, and maybe he wins a job, or he's pressed into service, he's had those reps and he's ready to go.
On offensive tackle Spencer Brown…
I was pleased with his progress throughout the season. We knew we had to get him ready, because, like I said, I thought I was living in a fantasy world with having that many guys (last season), and you know there's going to be attrition as the year goes on, so he played a little bit throughout the year. And then when it was his time to start in that game (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl), I thought he responded well. It was a really good front he was going against (vs. Pitt) – I think it was second or third in the country in sacks. Was (he) perfect? No, but he showed some good progress, and I thought he did some really good things, enough that you felt good going into this year that you could really believe, and this can be our guy.
On center Nick Samac…
That group last year was really like A and B, or co-starters. There was really no difference, so that's the way I saw it. After the first game in 2020, he went (started) the rest of the way, so he's got a lot of reps under his belt. He played before that as well (as a true freshman in 2019). He's playing center and guard, so he's cross training as well; in fact, he's athletic enough, we could throw him out there at tackle, if we needed to, and we even talked about it, just to get him some reps for emergency purposes. He's handled that well. And he's really trying to take over that leadership role that those older guys, like Matt (Allen) and some of those older guys had, he's really trying to be that for the guys, and he's done a nice job with that.
Pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan
On coming to Michigan State…
This has been my dream, to get back into coaching…once I got this call, I ran to it, especially at a program like this for a head coach like Coach Tucker. Just talking to him, coming here, interviewing with him, and just seeing his vision, this was the place to be.
On pass rushing skills and his journey into coaching…
Just the small details. I was a d-line coach at Austin Peay. I went back and starting training in New Orleans. During that, it made me a better coach, because I had to really start studying the game. I didn't have to worry about schemes, or anything like that. I just started studying the game. And being an o-lineman (in college), I knew what beat me as an offensive lineman. So I went back, watched a lot of film, see what worked, started working with the young guys, working with the high school guys out there, and finding a way to make those guys better. And with high school guys, they are more progression learning, there are small details with it, so it made me a better coach. If I could coach a high school guy –I could break it down for high school guys, so they could be the best that they could be – it was easy for me once I started working with the NFL guys.
On his experience as a trainer and how that helped…
I feel like every year I got better, just because as I worked and started doing it, I started finding the small details that helped the guys. It made me look at the things that made them better, and find their weaknesses – so when I find a weakness, I find a way to make their weakness strong. So I isolate the movement – if there's an upper-body violence (weakness), I'll find a way to make their upper body violent; if it's their footwork, I'll find a way to get their footwork better. And then, when I started working with those NFL guys, I started picking their brain. So dealing with Von Miller, dealing with guys like Cameron Heyward, they made me better, just picking their brain, as I made them better. So it was kind of like iron sharpens iron.
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