Mel Tucker had to improve Michigan State football's D-line. Here's how he tried to do it
INDIANAPOLIS — As Michigan State football’s season progressed last fall, Mel Tucker watched one defensive lineman after another disappear from his rotation.
First with season-ending injuries, then from suspensions for the final four games. Along with the normal bumps and bruises that limited players on a week-to-week basis.
Circumstances dictated an offseason of roster moves to aid the Spartans in the defensive trenches, with an influx of talent and depth Tucker and his staff hope can prevent a similar situation this season.
“We really addressed some issues with our front seven,” Tucker said Wednesday. “We needed to get bigger. … I think our front seven is more stout, which is going to help us stop the run and make things more one dimensional, and it's going to help us on the back end.”
HE SAID IT: How Mel Tucker really feels about Ford Field game, Noah Kim at QB
Tucker turned to the transfer portal and added experienced veterans in Jalen Sami (Colorado), Jarrett Jackson (Florida State) and Dre Butler (Liberty). Jackson and Butler enrolled in January, and Sami — who Tucker coached in 2019 — joined in April after spring practices. They join an established group that includes Simeon Barrow, Maverick Hansen, Derrick Harmon and Alex VanSumeren.
“He's a good player. He's a big body, and he's athletic. And he's a great guy,” Tucker said of Sami, a 6-foot-6, 330-pound sixth-year graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. “We were happy when he hit the portal. I mean, there was literally some running in the hallway. Guys were running trying to get it done.”
The Spartans finished 101st in rush defense at 178.6 yards allowed per game, yielding eight straight 100-plus-yard games to Big Ten running backs. MSU’s 29 sacks tied for 56th, down from 42 in 2021.
The long-term injuries and suspensions had the deepest effect at defensive end, first with the early-season losses of Jeff Pietrowski and Khris Bogle and then compounded by suspensions of Jacoby Windmon, Zion Young and Brandon Wright. It forced Tucker to use two since-transferred defensive tackles — Jalen Hunt and Dashaun Mallory — at rush ends in the final few weeks.
Tucker said Texas A&M transfer Tunmise Adeleye (Texas A&M), who arrived in January, will predominantly play as an edge rusher. Bogle, Young and Wright all are back, with incoming four-star freshmen Bai Jobe, Andrew Depaepe and Jalen Thompson joining the mix. MSU also brought in 2022 four-star defensive end Ken Talley during preseason camp last year after he left Penn State.
“Bigger guys. It makes them tougher to block,” linebacker Cal Haladay said of the Spartans getting healthy on the defensive line. “They can eat up (offensive) linemen. It makes my life easier, because it’s a lot more clear and there’s not as much gray. If there’s a gap open, it’s because they’re out there eating up two blocks. I think it makes it easier, specifically for linebackers, to be able to see where supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing. It just opens everything up.”
Windmon and Aaron Brule both return for a final season of eligibility, joined at linebacker with Haladay, freshman Jordan Hall and junior Ma’a Gaoteote. The hope, Tucker said, is for an improved front seven to help lead to improved performances in the secondary. MSU’s two interceptions last year — one by Windmon — were the fewest in the FBS as the Spartans gave up 237.9 passing yards to rank 86th.
With a number of younger players ready to contribute on the back end, Tucker added three transfers since last season — Semar Melvin (Wisconsin), Terry Roberts (Iowa via Miami) and Armorion Smith (Cincy) — to add competition at safety and cornerback.
“Those are three veteran guys that have played a lot of football to be around our young guys,” Tucker said.
Snow update
Tucker provided his first extensive update on safety-turned-linebacker Darius Snow, who suffered a season-ending right leg injury in the first half of last season’s opener against Western Michigan.
While not getting into specifics about what type of injury the redshirt junior suffered, Tucker called it “significant” that required “long-term rehab” and said he won’t know what to expect — if anything — this season from the son of former MSU basketball star Eric Snow and nephew of former linebacker star Percy Snow.
“He's been battling,” Tucker said. “He's a sharp kid, and he's very determined. He loves football. And he's been battling hard to get back. And it's gonna take a while. But hopefully, we'll get a chance to see him do more in fall camp, and then we'll assess him at that point.”
On Penn State in Detroit
Tucker called moving the Spartans’ regular-season finale against Penn State to the Friday night after Thanksgiving on Nov. 24 “a tremendous opportunity for our players, great exposure for our program, a national audience in a pro football arena, which I think is going to be great for our team.”
“It's going to be a great game,” he said. “We'll be in the Detroit area, where we recruit. We have a lot of fans there. I think that it's a great opportunity. We'll see how it goes, but I'm looking forward to it.”
RAINER SABIN: Michigan State has sacrificed a lot. When is the Big Ten going to return the favor?
MSU senior offensive lineman J.D. Duplain said he got excited as soon as he heard the game would be played at the home of the Detroit Lions.
“That experience is gonna be once in a lifetime,” Duplain said.” I hope to be playing in stadiums like that for a while. It's just awesome being able to be in an NFL stadium and do that. I know it's on Thanksgiving weekend, so I think it'll be awesome. A lot of times, people go home and we have a lot of people from the Detroit area, so I think that'll be a great turnout.
“I know there's a Lions game on that Thursday, so I think the city is gonna be bumping. I think it's gonna be a really cool experience.”
Fans have voiced concerns about moving a home game from East Lansing to Detroit, along with issues over ticketing. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin said his worries include a shortened week at the end of the season with a Friday game, but he agreed that he feels “there’s a ton of positives.”
“When you talk about that point of the season, being able to play in (Ford Field), I think we'll pack the place,” he said Wednesday. “I think our fans will travel. I think Michigan State will travel extremely well. It's their home game. It's going to be a great environment. And obviously being indoors that time of year, there's a real positive that comes from that, too.”
Roster update
Long snapper Mason Arnold, who transferred to MSU in the winter from Ohio State, left the program after spring practice. He is listed on Florida State’s preseason roster.
A program spokesman said the Spartans added long snapper Drew Wilson from Long Beach City College behind starter Hank Pepper, who battled injuries last season that kept him out of the final seven games of 2022.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Michigan State's Mel Tucker tried to improve defensive line
