With preseason practice starting on July 29 for the Michigan State football team, msuspartans.com takes a look at the position breakdown on defense and special teams for the Spartans.
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DEFENSIVE LINE
â–ºPosition Coaches:Legi Suiaunoa (defensive line, second season), Antjuan Simmons (assistant defensive line, third season)
The Spartans feature a mix of nine returning players, two incoming freshmen and one transfer to the defensive line, led by second-year coach Legi Suiaunoa.Â
Along the interior, MSU returns four players who played significant snaps in the playing rotation last season. In his first year as a starter, Alex VanSumeren (R-Jr.) played 333 snaps and recorded 16 tackles, including 2.5 for losses and 1.5 sacks, while starting all 12 games in his first full season following an injury in 2023. Graduate fifth-year senior Ru'Quan Buckley, redshirt junior Ben Roberts and redshirt senior Jalen Satchell are all experienced players who earned their first Spartan letters after transferring in 2024. Redshirt junior Ben Nelson also returns to provide depth at the position.Â
Junior Jalen Thompson started all 12 games at defensive end last season and has started 16 of his first 20 career games the past two seasons. Quindarius Dunnigan, who received a seventh season of eligibility in 2025 from the NCAA, has played in 44 collegiate games, including 13 starts, and has collected 85 tackles, 21 TFLs and 6.5 sacks in his career. He had 17 tackles and four TFLs in 11 games in his first season in East Lansing in 2024 after transferring from Middle Tennessee State.Â
The Spartans welcomed incoming transfer Grady Kelly to the program in January. Kelly played in 12 games last season at Florida State and also played three seasons (2021-23) at Colorado State. He has appeared in 38 collegiate games, including 22 starts, and has accumulated 98 tackles, including 11.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks, in his career.
The Spartans signed two defensive linemen in their recruiting class, Derrick Simmons and Cal Thrush, and they both enrolled early and competed in spring practice.Â
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EDGE/RUSH ENDS
â–ºPosition Coach: Chad Wilt (rush ends, second season)
â–ºLetterwinners lost (3):
• Khris Bogle (3L, 12 games/12 starts, 37 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 4.0 sacks)
• Anthony Jones (1L, 12 games, 25 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 sacks)
• James Schott (2L, 8 games, 2 tackles)
The Spartans are bringing in four edge transfers as the defense looks to improve the pass rush this season. Two of the transfers, Anelu Lafaele (R-Fr., Wisconsin) and David Santiago (R-So., Air Force), competed during spring practice, while Isaac Smith (Gr.-5, Texas Tech) and Cam Williams (Gr.-6, Georgia State) joined the team during the summer. The room is under the direction of second-year position coach Chad Wilt.
A four-star prospect out of high school, Lafaele redshirted at UW last season and still has four years of eligibility remaining. Santiago led the Falcons in sacks (3.5) and had 38 total tackles with 5.0 TFLs in 10 games during his first collegiate season in 2024.
Smith lettered two seasons at Texas Tech (2022, 2024) and played in 23 games for the Red Raiders, including eight starts. He recorded 31 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks in 12 games and six starts in 2024.
Williams, who will be in his sixth collegiate season, comes to East Lansing after playing at Georgia State in 2024. He began his career at Troy (2020-21) and also spent two seasons at Jacksonville State (2022-23). The experienced pass rusher has played in 32 collegiate games with 47 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss.
Redshirt junior Tyler Gillison, a Cincinnati transfer, is looking to get back on the field in 2025 after missing the entire 2024 season with an injury. He competed in spring practice and is healthy entering preseason camp. Stone Chaney and Luke DeJager both redshirted last season.
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Wayne Matthews is one of nine returning linebackers for the Spartans in 2025.
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LINEBACKERS
â–ºPosition Coaches:Joe Rossi (defensive coordinator/linebackers, second season), Andrew Bindelglass (assistant linebackers coach, second season)
Led by defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, the Spartans return nine linebackers from last season's team in addition to adding one transfer and three incoming freshmen.
Although the Spartans are losing full-time starters Cal Haladay and Jordan Turner, the group still features plenty of experience. Redshirt senior Wayne Matthews III, who transferred to MSU in 2024 after collecting 135 tackles at Old Dominion during the 2023 season, is back after recording 33 tackles in nine games last year; he missed the last three games due to an injury. Junior Jordan Hall has racked up 91 tackles, 8.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks in his first two seasons wearing the Green and White, and will be looked upon to help lead the room both on and off the field.
Sixth-year graduate senior Darius Snow, a three-year letterwinner, has played in 36 career games, including 12 starts, and played all of last season after missing most of the previous two seasons due to an injury. Fellow sixth-year graduate Sam Edwards is also back to provide leadership both in the linebacker room and on special teams.
Junior Marcellius Pulliam played in 12 games to earn his first letter at MSU last season, while Semaj Bridgeman (R-So.) and David Millikin (R-Jr.) both saw brief action in 2024. Brady Pretzlaff redshirted in his first season, but did record seven tackles in four games, and will compete to see increased time in the rotation in his second year. Chris Piwowarczyk provides depth after redshirting last season as a true freshman.Â
MSU brought in one transfer to the linebacker room, redshirt junior Aisea Moa, who played in 17 games at BYU the past three seasons (2022-24).
The Spartans signed three linebackers during National Signing Day in December: Leonard Ah You, who was on a mission trip the past two years, joined the team over the summer; DiMari Malone enrolled in January and competed in spring practice; and DeJae (DJ) White enrolled at MSU during the summer.
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Senior Nikai Martinez started all 12 games at safety in his first season as a Spartan in 2024.
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SECONDARY
â–ºPosition Coaches:Blue Adams (secondary, second season); James Adams (safeties, first season), Chris Gordon (assistant defensive backs, third season)
â–ºPlayers returning (13):
• #18 Andrew Brinson IV (So., 6-1, 182, Tampa, Fla./Gaither) 2024: 5 games, 1 tackle
• #38 Dorian Davis (1L, R-Jr., 6-0, 198, Detroit, Mich./Woodhaven) 2024: 5 games
Michigan State's secondary returns 13 players from last season's team, including starting senior safeties Nikai Martinez and Malik Spencer. MSU will have a new look at cornerback, but returns letterwinners with starting experience at the position – Chance Rucker (R-So.) and Ade Wille (Sr.) – along with eight incoming transfers who will be competing in the secondary. Â
Blue Adams is in his second year coaching the secondary, while James Adams is in his first season coaching the safeties.Â
Martinez started all 12 games at safety in his first year for the Spartans in 2024 after playing his first two seasons (2022-23) at UCF. He ranked third on the team with 51 tackles and tied for second with two interceptions while leading the team with 724 defensive snaps.
Spencer started the first nine games of the season before missing the final three games due to an injury. He has started 17 games the past two years and has 121 career tackles, 3.0 TFLs, eight pass break-ups and one interception in 26 collegiate games.
After missing most of the 2024 season due to injury, Rucker is back for the Spartans this fall. As a true freshman in 2023, Rucker started eight games at cornerback, but he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2 at Maryland and maintained his redshirt year. With last year's starting cornerbacks Charles Brantley and Ed Woods both gone in 2025, Rucker will once again have a chance to compete for a starting role.Â
Two true freshmen who earned letters last season for the Green and White, Andrew Brinson IV and Justin Denson Jr., will look to compete once again for time in the playing rotation as sophomores.Â
MSU added depth in the secondary by bringing in eight transfers, including seven with starting experience.Â
Three of the transfers learned the defense during spring practice. Fifth-year graduate senior Malcolm Bell played in 33 games the past three seasons (2022-24) at UConn, including 20 starts at cornerback, while playing nearly 1,500 snaps on defense for the Huskies. Senior NiJhay Burt recorded 83 tackles and six interceptions during his first three years at Eastern Illinois (2022-24) and led the team in picks last season with three. Sixth-year graduate Joshua Eaton, who began his career at Oklahoma (2020-22), started 20 games at cornerback the past two seasons at Texas State (2023-24) and ranked first on the team with five pass break-ups in 2024.
Five transfers joined the team during the summer: Sr.-6 Devynn Cromwell (Texas Tech), Gr.-5 Dontavius Nash (East Carolina), R-Jr. Anthony Pinnace III (UTSA), R-So. Tracy Revels (Bowling Green) and R-Fr. Elisa West (Merrimack). Outside of West, who redshirted as a true freshman at Merrimack, the summer transfers all have starting experience.
MSU signed four freshmen on National Signing Day in December. Two players enrolled early and competed in spring practice – George Mullins and Aydan West – while Deuce Edwards and Evan Young joined the team over the summer.Â
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Redshirt junior punter Ryan Eckley has been named a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
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SPECIAL TEAMS
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â–ºPosition Coaches: Keith Bhonapha (co-special teams coordinator, second season), Chad Wilt (co-special teams coordinator, second season), Joe Begnal (assistant special teams coordinator, second season)
â–ºSpecialists returning (5):
• #40 K Tarik Ahmetbasic (R-Fr., 6-2, 214, Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley) 2024: 1 game, 1-for-1 PATs
• #29 K Martin Connington (R-Fr., 6-0, 204, Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View)
• #96 P Ryan Eckley (2L, R-Jr., 6-2, 207, Lithia, Fla./Lithia) 2024: 12 games, 43 punts for 2,060 yards, 47.9 avg., 20 50+ yards, 6 inside the 20, 9 fair catches
• #47 LS Kaden Schickel (1L, R-Sr., 6-2, 210, Fredericksburg, Va./James Madison)    2024: 8 games (missed last four games with an injury)
â–ºIncoming players (2):
• #61 LS Aiden DeCorte (R-So., 6-1, 300, Jackson, Mich./Colorado)
• #86 K Blake Sislo (Sr.-5, 6-0, 185, Dexter, Mich./Davenport) *was already an MSU student; played at Davenport from 2021-23
â–ºIncoming freshmen (1):
• #87 LS Jack Wills (6-2, 217, Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville)
â–ºLetterwinners lost (2):
• LS Jack Carson Wentz (1L, 6 games)
• PK Jonathan Kim (2L, 12 games, 19-of-21 FGs, 22-of-24 PATs, 52 kickoffs for 5,913 yards, 62.3 avg.)Â
The Spartans are returning one of the best punters in all of college football, redshirt junior Ryan Eckley, who ranked among the national leaders last season with his 47.9-yard average, which tied for the third-best average in MSU single-season history. A two-time Ray Guy Award Watch List honoree, Eckley has earned second-team All-Big Ten honors two straight years. He enters the 2025 season as a Ray Guy Award candidate and a preseason All-American. Redshirt senior Carson Voss also returns as the back-up at punter.
MSU will feature a new placekicker in 2025 following the departure of Jonathan Kim. A second-team All-Big Ten selection last year, Kim was also named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award after ranking second in the conference in field-goal percentage (.905; 19-of-21). Redshirt sophomore Tarik Ahmetbasic was the only other Spartan kicker to see action last year, making one PAT after redshirting in 2023. Martin Connington (R-Fr.) redshirted last season after signing with the Spartans in the Class of 2024.
At long snapper, redshirt senior Kaden Schickel started the first eight games last season, but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 8. Linebacker Sam Edwards snapped on field goals and PATs the final four games and returns as well. Incoming freshman long snapper Jack Wills joined the team over the summer, along with fellow long snapper Aiden DeCorte (R-So.) and kicker Blake Sislo (Sr.-5).
