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Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi spoke with media members on Tuesday, offering a preview of the defense. With Week One against Western Michigan fast approaching, Rossi sounded energized about finally getting the chance to unleash what he and his staff have been working on all off-season.
“There’s a lot of buildup to the first game,” Rossi said. “You got through spring ball, training camp, and then you play, and all of a sudden it comes fast. So we’ve just got to go out and respond to the good or bad.”
The Importance of Depth
One of Rossi’s main priorities this offseason was building depth. Last year, injuries hit nearly every position, leaving his defense thin and often without core players like Malik Spencer, Wayne Matthews, and Chance Rucker. With so many key pieces missing, it was difficult for Rossi to fully establish his system. This year, he believes the reinforcements brought in will help elevate the room from where it was a year ago.
“I think our goal in the offseason was to add depth at safety, at nickel, at corner,” Rossi explained. “I would say that we did that. There’s the depth chart coming out of training camp, which we’ll hold for ourselves (MSU coaches), and then there’s the depth chart after you start playing games and you see how guys respond under the lights. The reality is: it is different from practice to a game. Sometimes you’ll see a guy maybe raise his stock during a game, and maybe drop a little bit. So we’ll evaluate those things, but we’re going into it (against Western Michigan) planning to play a lot of guys.”
The transfer portal was central to that plan. Just as last season’s team leaned heavily on transfers like Jonathan Kim, Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams, Jack Velling, Luke Newman, Quindarius Dunnigan, and Nikai Martinez, this year’s roster will again rely on newcomers to the Spartan program. Rossi and his staff brought in defensive pieces such as Grady Kelly, Joshua Eaton, Nijhay Burt, and Malcolm Bell to bolster depth across the board.
One position that demanded attention was safety.
“Those guys (safeties) have all come in, they’ve acclimated, they’ve got a lot of reps, we’ve rotated well throughout training camp, from the beginning until the end,” Rossi said. “I feel good about the depth.”
That confidence is notable given how last season opened.
“The first game we had two safeties go down for the year and we had one get ejected,” Rossi recalled. “We ended up playing a guy who had repped on the scout team all week.”
This offseason, the goal was clear: find players with college experience who could step in right away. “We’ve done that,” Rossi said. He added that the staff is “pleased” with the progress and believes there are now players “who can go into the game and play really well for us.”
Along with transfers, Rossi pointed out a few true freshmen who could get snaps against WMU. Cornerbacks Ayden West and Derrick Simmons stood out, as did linebacker Cal Thrush.
“There’s a variety of guys that would possibly get in there,” Rossi said, though he noted those decisions depend on game flow and require head coach Jonathan Smith’s approval.
Previewing the Broncos
Rossi also broke down the Broncos, a team that flashed potential but struggled with consistency last season. Western finished 6-7 last season, nearly toppling Wisconsin in Madison in both teams’ season opener, got crushed by Ohio State in Week Two, then went on to win five of its next six before dropping three of the last four games. WMU capped off its season with a 30-23 loss to South Alabama in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.
Rossi singled out Broncos’ running back Jalen Buckley as a major concern.
“He runs the ball really hard, he’s physical, he’s got good size, he’s got good vision,” Rossi said of Buckley. “So he’s a guy that I think is a concern, a Big Ten back.”
Rossi also highlighted receiver Christian Leary’s speed.
“Number One is a verified 10.5 (100-yard sprint), so he can roll” Rossi lauded of Leary while also pointing to quarterbacks Broc Lowry and Brady Jones as threats in different ways.
Linebackers=Confidence
If there’s one area Rossi feels most comfortable, it’s at linebacker.
“We’re going to play more guys than I’ve ever played before at linebacker,” Rossi said. “How do I do that? Well, there’s going to be guys with roles and different packages, and guys that have different jobs to do, so we’ll see a lot of guys in there. I will say, the guys who are the guys, which we’ll see on Friday, those guys are obviously ‘the guys’ for a reason. They’re going to get a bulk of the reps, but we’re going to play a variety of guys; we’ll have different packages that feature different guys’ strengths.”
Credit Where Credit is Due
When asked about the intelligence of his players, Rossi offered heavy praise for safety Armorion Smith.
“I’m going to give you one guy that really impresses me for like 25 different reasons,” Rossi said. “He’s got things that impress me that I wouldn’t be capable of doing at his age. No one studies the game more than him. He knows calls, he knows checks, he proactively makes checks. If something doesn’t make sense, he’s in my office or Coach Adams’ (safeties coach) office.”
Rossi emphasized that Smith understands not only “what” the defense is doing, but “why” it is being done.
“When you know the why,” Rossi said, “you can execute better.”
Rossi made it clear the defense is deeper and more flexible than a year ago, but Friday will be the first real test. Western Michigan brings a handful of weapons on offense. For Rossi and company, it will be the first real test of a brand new season.
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