Michigan State football: Turnover in trenches adds complexity to Jonathan Smith's rebuild

EAST LANSING — Jonathan Smith arrives with a mission to return Michigan State football to its smashmouth ways.

If there was a bright spot for a dismal defense during the 2023 season, it came from a talented defensive line that looked prepared to bring back much of its talent. And there was a glimmer of hope, through the fog on offense, as a highly touted group of young offensive linemen began to get critical on-the-job training to help block out the past and pave the way for a brighter future.

Then April arrived. By the time the Spartans’ 15 spring practices ended, those two potential areas of strength became some of Smith’s biggest questions heading into the summer.

“It's unique football a little bit now. You could coach for a long time, like I have, but the way the game now is different,” new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said Thursday. “I think (there is) 10, 11 guys, maybe more, who weren't here playing spring ball and then they're coming in and you're gonna be counting. It's different. And so the guys who were here, who played in the spring, who have a little bit more experience in what you're asking to do, those guys are invaluable.”

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The biggest defections came on defense. Oft-injured Simeon Barrow and up-and-coming Detroit native Derrick Harmon, the starting defensive tackles a year ago, each entered and then withdrew from the portal after Mel Tucker was fired. Both appeared prepared to anchor the middle of MSU’s front seven, with seasoned veteran Maverick Hansen planning to join them for a sixth and final season in a three-man rotation.

Before the end of spring practices, Barrow dipped back into the portal, eventually heading to Miami (Florida). Harmon soon followed after the final open-to-the-public spring practice on April 20, staying in the Big Ten but moving across the country to join Oregon. That leaves Hansen as the only returning defensive tackle to have played at MSU.

“Obviously, you get turnover if there's a change in the program. People have an opportunity to make decisions on where they want to go, and we wish people well,” Rossi said. “The guys we had, great. The guys we needed to add, let's go get them, let's make sure we're getting the right people who are going to fit us and fit our culture. And I thought we did a good job of that.”

Outside, the Spartans return one-time Florida transfer Khris Bogle along with two young talents in sophomores Jalen Thompson and Ken Talley. But the portal also claimed two other Tucker recruits, with former four-star prospects Andrew Depaepe (Indiana) and Bai Jobe (Kansas) leaving the program in the spring after 2023 starter Zion Young (Missouri) left soon after the season.

Hansen provides a proven and productive veteran inside who started four games last season and eight in his career. The Spartans, Rossi said, also “traded out” for experienced transfers D’Quan Douse (Georgia Tech), Ru’Quan Buckley (Nebraska), Ben Roberts (Oregon) and Jalen Satchell (Old Dominion/Temple) to shore up the middle. And on the edge, MSU added Quindarius Dunningan from Middle Tennessee State in the spring and picked up transfers Anthony Jones (Indiana/Oregon) and Tyler Gillison (Cincinnati) this summer to go with the returning edge group that also includes veteran Avery Dunn.

“We're gonna be back,” Bogle said. “You guys got my word: We will be back to one of the best defensive D-lines, corners, linebackers — the whole defense as a unit will be the best in the Big Ten and in the country as well.”

Said Rossi, who arrives after spending seven years at Minnesota (and the last five as defensive coordinator for the Gophers): “I think having been in the (Big Ten) for a long time. You gotta kind of build the thing from the line out. If you're not able to stop the run in the Big Ten, it's gonna be a challenge, no matter how athletic you are. So we gotta make sure that we have guys that can go in there and do that.”

The same holds true on offense.

While MSU’s struggles up front continued last season — the Spartans averaged a program-worst 89.5 rushing yards per game — the building blocks along the line appeared ready to grow. Even after one starter, right tackle Spencer Brown, transferred to Oklahoma after the coaching change and three others (Kevin Wigenton II to Illinois, Keyshawn Blackstock to Arkansas and Braden Miller to California) also left the program.

Two more expected returning starters bolted after spring practice. Right guard Geno VanDeMark transferred to Alabama and Ethan Boyd, who was penciled in to take over at right tackle for Brown, also left. Boyd graduated from MSU this summer but reportedly did not report to Colorado and is expected to retire from football, according to reporters who cover the Buffaloes. With the graduation losses of center Nick Samac and left guard J.D. Duplain, that leaves left tackle Brandon Baldwin as the only offensive lineman returning with extensive experience for the Spartans, though senior Dallas Fincher started at center in last season’s opener when Samac was hurt.

Smith and his staff brought versatile sixth-year veteran Tanner Miller with them from Oregon State to take over at center, having worked with incoming transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles on the Beavers’ second-team offense a year ago. Bloomfield Hills native Luke Newman arrives from FCS-level Holy Cross, where he started 37 straight games at left tackle, but is beginning his MSU career inside, working at both guard and center.

“You're asking five guys to be on the same page all the time. … We're trying to find the best five guys out there, so having some position flexibility,” Smith said. “And you'll see that throughout camp with guys playing a couple different positions."

Third-year sophomore Ashton Lepo got spring reps at right tackle, and redshirt freshman Stanton Ramil is returning from an injury that cost him all of last season. Third-year sophomores Kristian "Big Dooley" Phillips (who like Baldwin entered and withdrew from the portal in December) and Gavin Broscious will compete for the first-string right guard spot, with redshirt freshman Cole Dellinger also working back form injury. Both Ramil and Dellinger were highly rated recruits in the 2023 class, Tucker’s last.

“I think we're always pushing for some competition,” Smith said. “Just because guys are slotted currently at a spot, they know that others are chasing them down. And then we know this game, it's a long season, it's a physical game, everybody has gotta be ready to go.”

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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