With preseason camp beginning this week for the Michigan State football team, msuspartans.com takes a look at the position breakdown on defense and special teams for the Spartans.
^ Enrolled in January 2023 | * at Texas A&M in 2022 | & at Liberty in 2022 | # at Florida State in 2022
Michigan State returns plenty of depth and experience along the defensive line this season, in addition to welcoming in four highly touted transfers (Tunmise Adeleye from Texas A&M, Dre Butler from Liberty, Jarrett Jackson from Florida State and Nolan Sami from Colorado) and three top-200 recruits (Andrew Depaepe, Bai Jobe, Jalen Thompson).
Diron Reynolds, who was named the program's defensive line coach in January, got his first on-field look at the position group during spring practice. Reynolds has more than 25 years of coaching experience both at the NFL and Power 5 levels and previously spent the past seven seasons (2016-22) as the defensive line coach at Stanford. He has coached on multiple championship teams, including winning a Super Bowl ring with the Colts, and has worked with numerous All-Americans, NFL Draft picks and All-Pro players.
Along the interior, three Spartans return with starting experience, led by redshirt junior Simeon Barrow Jr. Barrow started 10 games at defensive tackle last season and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades while recording career highs in tackles (40), tackles for loss (9.0 for 28 yards) and sacks (4.0 for 21 years). He also led the defense with 28 total quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, ranking fourth most in the Big Ten. Barrow has started 21 games for the Spartans over the past two seasons.
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Simeon Barrow Jr. recorded career highs in tackles (40), TFLs (9) and sacks (4) in 2022 for the Spartan defense.
Redshirt senior Maverick Hansen collected a career-high 41 tackles in 12 games last season, including two starting assignments, and has played in 31 career games. Redshirt sophomore Derrick Harmon started five games in 2022 and registered 30 stops, including three TFLs and two sacks. Four-star recruit Alex Van Sumeren, who redshirted in 2022 by appearing in just four games, will also compete for time in the rotation.
Incoming graduate transfers Dre Butler (Liberty), Jarrett Jackson (Florida State) and Jalen Sami (Colorado) will bolster the Spartan interior with more than 85 combined games at the FBS level. Butler, who originally enrolled at Independence Community College out of high school, played two seasons at Auburn (2020-21) and one at Liberty (2022) before graduating and attending MSU in January. Jackson is also a graduate transfer who joined the program in January after playing one season at Louisville (2018) and three at Florida State (2020-22). Sami arrived at MSU in the summer after playing in 40 career games for the Buffaloes, including 32 starting assignments at defensive tackle, the past four seasons (2019-22). He played for MSU head coach Mel Tucker at CU during the 2019 season.
Due to a rash of injuries, the Spartans started nine different players at defensive end last season. Four of those players – Khris Bogle (R-Sr.), Avery Dunn (R-Jr.), Brandon Wright (R-Sr.) and Zion Young (So.) – are back this season on the edge. Bogle, a Florida transfer and former top-100 recruit, only played in the first four games last season after suffering a season-ending injury vs. Minnesota in Week 4. Dunn saw his playing time increase toward the end of last season with starts against Rutgers and Indiana, and he recorded career highs in tackles (28), tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (3.0) to earn his first letter. In his second full season at defensive end after spending time as a running back his first two years in East Lansing, Wright played in eight games with two starts, including a career-high 14 tackles. Young appeared in eight games as a true freshman, including two starts, and posted 21 stops with two tackles for loss.
Tunmise Adeleye, a top-40 recruit in the Class of 2021 out of Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas, enrolled in January after spending two seasons at Texas A&M and will look to make an immediate impact on the Spartan pass rush. Adeleye was named the No. 17 player in the transfer portal by The Athletic heading into the 2023 season.
The Spartans also signed three highly ranked players at defensive end as part of their 2023 recruiting class. Bai Jobe, the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma, played in the All-American Bowl and was ranked the No. 54 overall player in the nation according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. Andrew Depaepe, a consensus top-150 recruit from Bettendorf, Iowa, also enrolled in January for the Spartans. Jalen Thompson, a four-star prospect from Detroit Cass Tech and the consensus No. 1 defensive end in the state of Michigan, joined the Spartans over the summer. Freshman Jaxson Wilson adds depth at the position for the Spartans. Â
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Linebacker Jacoby Windmon, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week three times last season, is returning to the Spartans for his fifth season of eligibility in 2023.
â–ºLINEBACKERS
The linebackers, coached by fourth-year Secchia Family Defensive Coordinator Scottie Hazelton, are loaded with experience as Aaron Brule and Jacoby Windmon both elected to come back to Michigan State in 2023 to use their extra year of eligibility.
Windmon, who transferred to MSU from UNLV in 2022, burst onto the scene with four sacks in his Spartan debut against Western Michigan to earn Big Ten and National Defensive Player of the Week honors. He became the first Spartan and just the sixth Big Ten player to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week accolades three times in one season (vs. Western Michigan, Akron and Wisconsin), and he was also named the National Defensive Player of the Week in his first start at linebacker vs. Wisconsin in Week 7 after starting the first six games at defensive end. The New Orleans native, who led the team in TFLs (10.5) and sacks (5.5) and ranked first in the nation with six forced fumbles, returned to his natural position of linebacker in the spring.
Brule, a graduate transfer from Mississippi State who also arrived on campus last year with Windmon, saw his playing time increase as the season progressed and he ended up ranking second on the team in sacks (4.0 for 32 yards) and third in tackles for loss (6.5 for 41 yards). He registered 30 tackles while playing all 12 games, including two starting assignments.
Redshirt junior Darius Snow, who began last season at linebacker after playing in the secondary his first two seasons, unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1 vs. Western Michigan. He will look to bounce back this season after a promising sophomore year in 2021 in which he ranked third on the team and 18th in the Big Ten with 87 tackles.
The Spartans also return letterwinners Ma'a Gaoteote (Jr.) and Sam Edwards (R-Jr.) to the rotation.
Incoming four-star freshman Jordan Hall, the only three-time captain in IMG Academy history, enrolled in January and made an early impact during spring practice for the Spartans.
MSU also brought in one transfer at linebacker in the spring, Aaron Alexander (R-Fr.), who redshirted at UMass in 2022.
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Charles Brantley, who led the team with six pass break-ups in 2022, started 11 games at cornerback last season for the Spartans.
â–ºSECONDARY
Former Spartan All-American and NFL veteran Harlon Barnett is in 15th year overall on the defensive coaching staff at Michigan State, his fourth under head coach Mel Tucker, and will coach the secondary for MSU.
The Spartans feature a number of promising players in the secondary and also return starters with multiple years of experience in addition to bolstering their depth through the transfer portal.
At cornerback, Charles Brantley (Jr.) took over a full-time starting role during his second season in East Lansing and led the team with six pass break-ups to go along with 48 tackles, 2.0 TFLs and one interception in 11 starts. The two-year letterwinner has started in 12 of his 19 collegiate games and has 10 pass break-ups and two interceptions in his career.
Senior Angelo Grose has started games at both safety and nickelback the past three seasons and has played in 28 games overall since his arrival on campus in 2020, including 25 starts. The three-year letterwinner has 159 tackles with five tackles for loss, 13 pass break-ups and one interception during his collegiate career.
Sophomores Dillon Tatum (12 games), Jaden Mangham (8 games), Ade Willie (6 games) and Malik Spencer (5 games) all gained valuable experience during their true freshmen season in 2022 and will look to have an even greater impact in the secondary in 2023. In addition, Caleb Coley and Malcolm Jones each played in three games as true freshman but were still able to preserve their redshirt season. Redshirt sophomore Khalil Majeed adds depth for the Spartans in the back end of the secondary.
Redshirt seniors Chester Kimbrough and Justin White each started games at nickelback for the Spartans last year and are back to compete for a starting role this season. Marqui Lowery Jr. (R-Jr.) also has starting experience at cornerback.
Fifth-year senior Harold Joiner, a converted running back, practiced at safety toward the end of last season and played exclusively at his new position in the spring.
MSU is also adding three transfers to the secondary in 2023, all with extensive playing experience: Semar Melvin, a redshirt senior from Wisconsin, enrolled in January, while Terry Roberts (Iowa/Miami) and Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) joined the team in the summer. Melvin played in 23 games for the Badgers (2019-22), Roberts saw action in 33 games for the Hawkeyes (2019-22), and Smith appeared in 12 games for the Bearcats last season. Roberts transferred to Miami for the spring semester before arriving in East Lansing over the summer.
Players returning (3):
• #96 P Ryan Eckley (R-Fr., 6-2, 195, Lithia, Fla./Newsome, 1 game, 1 punt for 41 yards)
• #31 LS Hank Pepper (2L, Jr., 6-2, 210, Chandler, Ariz./Chandler, 5 games)
• #98 K Stephen Rusnak (R-So., 6-1, 170, Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston, 2 games, 1-for-1 PATs)
Incoming transfers (3):
• #97 K Jonathan Kim (Gr.-5, 6-0, 210, Fredericksburg, Va./North Carolina, 4 games, 62.4-yard kickoff avg.) *
• #42 P Michael O'Shaughnessy (Gr.-5, 6-3, 205, New Albany, Ohio/Ohio State)
• #41 LS Drew Wilson (Jr., 6-2, 225, Redondo Beach, Calif./Long Beach City College, 7 games)
Incoming freshmen (2):
• #40 K Tarik Ahmetbasic (Fr., 6-2, 190, Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa)
• #39 K Yousef Obeid (Fr., 5-11, 150, Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn)
Letterwinners lost (4):
• P Bryce Baringer (4L, 49.0-yard punting avg., 4 touchbacks, 12 FC, 22 inside 20, 24 of 50-plus yards)
• LS Michael Donovan (1L, 7 games)
• K Ben Patton (1L, 4-of-8 FGs, 15-of-16 PATs)
• K Jack Stone (1L, 2-of-4 FGs, 15-of-16 PATs)
* at North Carolina in 2022
Michigan State will have a new look in the specialists room as the team will have a new starting kicker and punter for the 2023 season.
First-team All-American Bryce Baringer, who set a school record with his 49.0-yard average and was drafted by the New England Patriots, is gone for the Spartans at punter. Redshirt freshman Ryan Eckley began the process to replace Baringer during spring practice, and he will be joined by graduate transfer Michael O'Shaughnessy (Ohio State) in preseason camp.
The Spartans, who used multiple placekickers in 2022, brought in graduate transfer Jonathan Kim from North Carolina over the summer. Redshirt sophomore Stephen Rusnak will also compete for the position and kicked for the Spartans during the spring. Rusnak earned a letter as a freshman in 2021 while converting 4-of-5 PATs and averaging 57.0 yards on kickoffs.
