With spring practice 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.
►Letterwinners lost (4):
• Dre Butler (1L, 3 games, 9 tackles, 1.0 TFL for 1 yard)
• Jalen Sami (1L, 10 games, 15 tackles, 0.5 TFL for 4 yards)
• Brandon Wright (5L, 11 games/4 starts at DE, 19 tackles, 2.0 TFLs for 13 yards, 2 sacks for 13 yards)
• Zion Young (2L, 12 games/9 starts at DE, 26 tackles, 4.5 TFLs for 20 yards, 1.5 sacks for 5 yards)
Michigan State has 14 players returning along the defensive line in addition to two incoming transfers for spring practice under first-year assistant coaches Legi Suiaunoa (defensive line) and Chad Wilt (co-special teams coordinator/rush ends).
The Spartans bring back plenty of experience on the defensive interior, including last year's primary starters Simeon Barrow Jr. (10 starts) and Derrick Harmon (10 starts). Now in his fifth season in East Lansing, Barrow has been a mainstay for the Spartans after redshirting in 2020, playing in 34 games with 30 starts the past three seasons. He has earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors the last two years. Barrow recorded 36 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks in 2023 to go along with his 22 quarterback pressures, which ranked third most on the team. Harmon, a redshirt junior, tallied a career-high 40 tackles and 3.5 TFLs last year while playing 475 snaps, most among the Spartan defensive tackles. Simeon Barrow Jr. returns to anchor the defensive front for the Spartans in 2024. Barrow has started 30 games at defensive tackle over the past three seasons.
Graduate senior Maverick Hansen, who started four games last season and has eight career starts, is using his sixth year of eligibility in 2024 and will bolster the defensive front for MSU. The four-year letterwinner and four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection has 90 tackles, 8.5 TFLs and five sacks in 41 career games.
Khris Bogle also returns for his sixth collegiate season and his third as a Spartan after transferring from Florida in 2022. Bogle has started nine games at defensive end during his time in East Lansing; he had 14 tackles, 2.0 TFLs and 1.5 sacks in 10 games last fall.
Promising sophomore Jalen Thompson started the final four games of the season at defensive end as a true freshman in 2023 and played in a total of eight contests. The Detroit native had 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks as a part of 19 stops overall; in his first career start against Nebraska on Nov. 4, he had a season-best five tackles and two sacks along with a forced fumble in the win over the Huskers.
The Spartans welcomed experienced transfers D'Quan Douse and Quindarius Dunnigan to the program in January. Douse, a sixth-year graduate senior, played in 44 games the last four seasons at Georgia Tech (2020-23), including 24 starts at defensive tackle. He has 69 tackles, 8.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks in his collegiate career.
Dunnigan earned second-team All-Conference USA honors last season at Middle Tennessee State after recording career highs in tackles (35), tackles for loss (10 for 27 yards), sacks (3 for 13 yards) and pass break-ups (8) for the Blue Raiders. In four seasons at MTSU (2019-20; 2022-23), he collected 68 tackles, 17 TFLs and 5.5 sacks in 33 games with 13 starts at defensive end.
Both defensive linemen Michigan State signed to National Letters of Intent – Mikeshun Beeler (Chicago) and Kekai Burnett (Honolulu) – will arrive in East Lansing over the summer. Cal Haladay has led the team in tackles for the past three seasons and ranks 18th in MSU history with 307 career tackles.
►Incoming transfers (2):
• #26 Wayne Matthews III (R-Jr., 6-2, 227, Largo, Md./Old Dominion)
13 games/13 starts, 135 tackles, 9.5 TFLs for 63 yards, 3.5 sacks for 32 yards, 3 PBUs, 1 FR, 3 FF
• #7 Jordan Turner (R-Sr., 6-1, 235, Farmington, Mich./Wisconsin)
11 games/7 starts, 61 tackles, 6.5 TFLs for 35 yards, 3.0 sacks for 21 yards, 2 PBUs, 1 FF
►Incoming freshmen signed to NLIs (1):
• #45 Brady Pretzlaff (6-3, 227, Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord) *early enrollee
►Letterwinners lost (1):
• Aaron Brule (2L, 12 games/9 starts, 64 tackles, 8.5 TFLs for 35 yards, 5.0 sacks for 25 yards, 2 PBUs)
First-year defensive coordinator Joe Rossi will also coach the linebackers for the Spartans. He inherits a position room that features six returning letterwinners and also welcomes two transfers with starting experience.
Redshirt senior Cal Haladay led the team in tackles for the third year in a row in 2023 with 91, tied for seventh most in the Big Ten during the regular season, while starting all 12 games. Haladay ranks 18th in MSU history with 307 career tackles and also has 21.5 TFLs, three sacks and three interceptions in 41 career games with 35 starts. He tied a school record with his third career defensive touchdown on a 42-yard scoop-and-score at Iowa on Sept. 30; he had two interception returns for touchdowns in 2021 (30 yards vs. Indiana and 78 yards vs. Pitt in Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl).
Talented sophomore Jordan Hall started six games as a true freshman last season and ranked fourth on the team with 67 tackles; he also recorded 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in playing every game for the Spartans.
Darius Snow, who is preparing for his fifth season in East Lansing, has battled injuries the past two years but looks to return to form during spring practice. After playing in six games as a true freshman on special teams during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Snow started nine games as a defensive back in 2021 as a sophomore and ranked third on the team with 87 tackles. He made the switch to linebacker in 2022 but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1 against Western Michigan. After rehabbing for an entire year, Snow returned to the field in Week 3 of last season and played in four games before missing the final six games.
Transfers Wayne Matthews III (R-Jr.) and Jordan Turner (R-Sr.) joined the team in January and will participate in spring practice. Matthews has two seasons of eligibility remaining after spending the past three years at Old Dominion (2021-23). He ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference and 11th in the FBS last season with 135 tackles (10.4 avg.), in addition to 9.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks, to earn third-team All-SBC honors. Matthews started all 13 games for the Monarchs and played a total of 936 snaps, tied for fourth most among FBS linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus. He also graded out at 82.9 by PFF, tied for 21st in the nation for FBS linebackers with more than 250 snaps.
A four-year letterwinner at Wisconsin, Turner played in 30 career games with the Badgers, including 18 starts at inside linebacker. He ranked third on the team in tackles (61) and TFLs (6.5) and started seven games last season. For his career, the Farmington, Michigan, native has been very productive with 135 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, three interceptions, six pass break-ups and two forced fumbles.
Brady Pretzlaff, the lone linebacker signed in the 2024 recruiting class, enrolled early and is on campus for spring practice. Jaden Mangham led the team with four interceptions and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore in 2023.
SECONDARY
►Position Coaches: Blue Adams (first season, secondary), Demetrice Martin (first season, cornerbacks)
►Players returning (22):
• #0 Charles Brantley (2L, R-Jr., 6-0, 170, Sarasota, Fla./Venice)
3 games/3 starts at CB, 10 tackles, 1 TFL for 3 yards, 1 PBU) *missed last nine games due to injury
• #14 Sean Brown (1L, So., 6-3, 196, Los Angeles, Calif./Simi Valley
7 games, 3 tackles
• #40 James Burbar (R-Fr., 6-0, 193, Northville, Mich./Madonna) *played LB last season
• #3 Caleb Coley (1L, R-So., 6-0, 188, Warner Robins, Ga./Houston County)
6 games/1 start at CB, 4 tackles, 1 TFL for 3 yards
• #37 Khary Crump (2L, R-Sr., 6-0, 173, Los Angeles, Calif./Arizona)
3 games/1 start at CB, 1 tackle
• #38 Dorian Davis (R-So., 6-0, 192, Detroit, Mich./Woodhaven)
• #28 Philipp Davis (R-Fr., 6-1, 198, Lake Wales, Fla./Lake Wales)
►Incoming freshmen signed to NLIs (4):
• Andrew Brinson IV (6-1, 200, Tampa, Fla./Gaither)
• Justin Denson Jr. (6-2, 196, Providence, R.I./Wyoming Seminary Upper School) *early enrollee
• Jaylen Thompson (6-1, 187, Murfreesboro, Tenn./Riverdale) *early enrollee
• Keshawn Williams (6-1, 175, Murfreesboro, Tenn./Riverdale)
►Letterwinners lost (1):
• Chester Kimbrough (3L, 12 games/3 starts at CB, 25 tackles, 1.5 TFLs for 10 yards, 1 sack for 9 yards, 3 PBUs)
Michigan State loses only one letterwinner in the secondary from last season's team and returns 22 players overall, including six players with multiple games of starting experience. The Spartans also added one transfer and signed four players to National Letters of Intent. The group will led by first-year assistant coaches Blue Adams (secondary) and former Spartan Demetrice Martin (cornerbacks).
Four-year letterwinner Angelo Grose, who has played in 40 games throughout his Spartan career including 35 starts, returns for a fifth season. Grose has started at both nickelback and safety while wearing the Green and White, and enters his final season of eligiblity with 231 career tackles and three interceptions.
Jaden Mangham made 10 starts at safety during his sophomore season in 2023 and led the team with four interceptions to earn honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades. Fellow classmate Malik Spencer started seven times as a safety last year and ranked second on the team in pass break-ups (6) and third in tackles (72).
At cornerback, Dillon Tatum (Jr.) started eight of the first nine games of the season before missing the final three contests with an injury. Tatum still led the team with seven pass break-ups and collected 45 tackles. As a true freshman, Chance Rucker started eight of the last nine games and gained valuable experience in his first season as a Spartan. Rucker recorded his first career interception at Rutgers and had three PBUs with 23 tackles on the year. Junior Charles Brantley has started in 15 games over the past three seasons, but missed the last nine games of the 2023 campaign after suffering an injury in Week 3 against Washington.
Redshirt sophomore Aveon Grose, younger brother of Angelo Grose, transferred to MSU in January 2024 after playing in six games for Charlotte as a freshman in 2022 and four games at Southern Illinois last season. In addition, freshman defensive back DJ Kennard (West Columbia, South Carolina/Palmetto Prep) is also enrolled for the spring semester.
Two of MSU's four signees in the secondary – Justin Denson Jr. and Jaylen Thompson – are enrolled at Michigan State and will compete in spring practice, while Andrew Brinson IV and Keshawn Williams will join the team in the summer. Ryan Eckley was a second-team All-Big Ten selection and Freshman All-American in 2023 with his 46.8-yard punting average, the fifth-best mark in school history.
SPECIAL TEAMS
►Co-special teams coordinators: Keith Bhonapha (first season), Chad Wilt (first season)
►Specialists returning (6): Punters (1):
• #96 P Ryan Eckley (1L, R-So., 6-2, 211, Lithia, Fla./Newsome)
12 games, 55 punts for 2,576 yards, 46.8 avg., 23 inside the 20, 2 touchbacks, 21 fair catches, 24 50+
Long Snappers (1):
• #41 LS Drew Wilson (Sr., 6-2, 236, Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union)
Placekickers (4):
• #40 K Tarik Ahmetbasic (R-Fr., 6-2, 214, Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley)
• #97 K Jonathan Kim (1L, Gr.-6, 6-0, 232, Fredericksburg, Va./North Carolina)
12 games, 17-for-17 PATs, 13-for-18 FGs, 42 kickoffs for 2,672 yards, 63.6 avg., 28 touchbacks, 2 OB
• #39 K Yousef Obeid (R-Fr., 5-11, 178, Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn)
• #98 K Stephen Rusnak (1L, R-So., 6-1, 187, Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston)
2 games, 3-for-3 PATs, 3 kickoffs for 195 yards, 65.0 avg.
►Letterwinners Lost (1):
P Michael O'Shaughnessy (7 games, 14 punts for 562 yards, 40.1 avg., 4 inside the 20, 1 touchback, 7 fair catches, 1 50+)
Michigan State returns punter Ryan Eckley (R-So.) and placekicker Jonathan Kim (Gr.-6) to form one of the best punter-kicker duos in the country.
In his first season as the starter, Eckley ranked second in the Big Ten Conference and eighth in the FBS with his 46.8-yard punting average, which was the fifth-longest average in MSU single-season history. Named to the Ray Guy Midseason Award Watch List, Eckley also ranked second in the Big Ten in 50-plus yard punts (24) and fourth in punts inside the 20 (23). In addition, he had four punts of 60-plus yards and 15 inside the 10-yard line. The native of Lithia, Florida, was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and The Athletic, and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media.
Kim has one of the strongest legs in the nation, evidenced by his four field goals made from 50-plus yards, which tied for third most in the FBS. He boomed a 58-yarder as time expired in the first half at Iowa, which set a Kinnick Stadium record and was the fourth-longest field goal in MSU history. Kim was 13-of-18 overall on field goals, with seven of those coming from at least 40 yards out; he was 6-of-6 on field goals between 30-39 yards. The graduate senior, who transferred from North Carolina in 2023, was also a perfect 17-for-17 on PATs and averaged 63.6 yards on kickoffs with 28 touchbacks (67 percent).
Drew Wilson (punts) and Sam Edwards (field goals/PATs) split the long snapping duties for the final eight games last season.
The Spartans also added transfer Kaden Schickel (R-Jr.) from James Madison, who started all 13 games at long snapper for the Dukes in 2023, in addition to punter Carson Voss from Western Michigan.
