Michigan State football officially hires Joe Rossi as defensive coordinator

Michigan State football officially has a new defensive coordinator.

MSU formally announced the hiring of Joe Rossi as the school's new defensive coordinator under recently hired head coach Jonathan Smith on Thursday. Rossi was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Minnesota since the 2018 season, where he led the Gophers to multiple top-ranked defenses.

Rossi is one of the final pieces to Michigan State's new coaching staff. Smith brought most of his assistants with him from Oregon State as the first hires to the staff. He also retained wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins to the same position. Hawkins is the only assistant remaining from former coach Mel Tucker's staff as of now.

Smith’s 7-year, $52.85 million contract and contracts for assistants have yet to be formally approved by MSU’s Board of Trustees, which scheduled a virtual public meeting for Friday ahead of its regularly scheduled meeting later that day.

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In 2023, Rossi's sixth season with the Golden Gophers and fourth as their defensive coordinator, Minnesota finished 58th in total defense, allowing 373.8 yards per game. However, in 2021, Rossi was a Broyles Award nominee and led a Minnesota defense that ranked third nationally in total defense (278.8 yards per game) and tied for sixth in scoring defense (17.31 points per game).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football announced Joe Rossi as defensive coordinator