How Exactly Will MSU Football's Joe Rossi Restore the Spartans' Defense?

Michigan State's defense has been lackluster over the past few seasons. To reach the highs it once attained, the Spartans have tabbed Defensive Coordinator Joe Rossi to get it done.

Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi looks on while working with the linebackers during the first day of football camp on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi came to East Lansing this offseason looking to be a part of the turnaround head coach Jonathan Smith has been tasked with.

Rossi was a prolific coordinator with Big Ten rival Minnesota, boasting a successful track record of player development. Rossi's biggest challenge will be to restore the Spartans defense to the level it was at a decade ago.

The halcyon days of Shilique Calhoun, Max Bullough, and the "No Fly Zone" seem like a distant memory. Rossi will have plenty to work with -- a deep and talented linebackers room and a secondary looking to improve. A lot of turnover on the defensive line will signal a bit of a question mark early on in the season.

It is the first week of camp, and Rossi knows it will be an incremental process, however. He told reporters on Thursday how he is approaching that process.

"Think the things we want to see when we put the film on is we want to see guys playing with extreme effort," Rossi said. "I think any really, really good defense is going to play really really hard. I think there's gonna be a really big emphasis on toughness. On the ability to control the line of scrimmage, stop the run, be physical on your tackling, and we gotta be really, really great with our technique. You know, those [Spartan] defenses, I've had a chance to see them over the years being in the league, I think that's what you'd say about them -- they played their butt off, they were really physical, they played with good technique. And they had good players.

"For us to play good defense, that's kinda where it starts. So we went out, recruited guys that we believe are a fit for us and now we're coaching them. So it will be a process of getting better everyday, I know it comes off as 'coach speak' but I mean anybody who's good at anything has to get good at it. You gotta go through a process to get there, so we're in that process right now. We all want it to happen as soon as possible and that's what we are working toward."

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