East Lansing, Mich. - The names are the same at the first-string safety level for Michigan State this spring, but the approach and expertise have changed a bit.
Michigan State is practicing with a right and left safety deployment this spring, rather than strong safety and free safety.
Do not assume that those changes will carry carry over to the fall. Nick Saban used to train his safeties as left and right in the spring so that each player would gain an understanding for both safety positions without the pressure of an upcoming game that weekend. The same tack is taking place at Michigan State this spring, with senior Xavier Henderson capable of playing free or strong safety.
One of the biggest questions of the spring was who would join Henderson in the starting lineup at safety.
Angelo Grose started 12 games at safety last fall after moving from nickel to safety in the spring of 2021.
Grose had mixed results as a safety, and returned to nickel for the Peach Bowl.
Darious Snow emerged as the starting nickel for most of the 2021 season, and then moved to safety for the Peach Bowl.
That added questions to off-season discussions: Would Snow stay at safety for 2022, or would Grose switch back to safety, or would the Spartans hit the portal for a safety, or could a freshman emerge as a starting candidate?
No second-stringers pushed the starting safeties for playing time last year. Grose and Henderson ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the nation in defensive snaps played in 2021.
“Obviously some of that was our fault, we have to get off the field,” said defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett. “But we never felt comfortable putting another guy in for those two guys. So they battled through injury. You never knew it. They just kept playing. That’s just who they are.”
Michigan State hasn’t added a safety via the transfer portal (so far) this off-season, and isn’t expected to. Meanwhile, Snow packed on weight in order to move to linebacker. Thus Grose has re-emerged as Henderson’s likely tag team partner in the deep middle.
“You are always trying to find the best 11,” Barnett said. “Right now, with X and ‘Gelo, they are playing left and right instead of free and strong. So it makes us a little bit more versatile because you don’t know who’s going to be down (near the line of scrimmage) and who is going to be in the middle of the field if we’re playing a single high defense.
“I don’t know if we’ll stick with that (the left and right safety approach) throughout the season but it is an option and they are doing a good job of it.”
Grose (5-10, 180, Jr., Mansfield, Ohio) was a hard-tackling cornerback in high school. He made an instant impact as a physical true freshman nickel back in 2020.
Moving to safety tested his top-end speed, his hip turn and deep ball judgement. All of those things were a bit faulty at times last year, hence the experiment with Snow at safety in the bowl game.
Snow is a tough, sure-tackling thumper whom the coaches believe has a great shot to be among the best 11 on defense. Coaches took a look at him at safety last fall. He might not have the speed necessary to be a plus safety, but team speed wouldn’t suffer, and would probably improve, if Snow could stick at linebacker.
At 6-1, 220, Snow added about 10 pounds since last season and has plenty of size for the linebacker position.
Snow could still be utilized at nickel if necessary, especially against run-dominant teams.
At nickel, Michigan State could revert back to having a cornerback at that position in 2022. Shakur Brown, a natural cornerback, began the 2020 season at nickel before injuries at cornerback moved him to the outside, and forced Grose into the starting lineup at nickel. Then Snow played nickel in 2021, with Grose moving to safety.
With Michigan State now having a surplus of cornerbacks, Chester Kimbrough is getting a long look at nickel this spring while Ronald Williams and Georgia transfer Ameer Speed are strong candidates to start at cornerback. Williams started nine games at corner last year.
So Michigan State will have the option this fall of going with a cornerback at nickel, like Kimbrough, or a bigger-bodied guy like Snow, or even Grose. Manufacturing a level of versatility in the spring could pay dividends in the fall.
“When everybody is versatile and they know the position, now whoever is the best, they can play out there,” Grose said. “So you can put your best guys out on the field.”
Coaches are hoping for stronger competition from second-string safeties in 2022.
“We want to take some of those reps off of those guys (Henderson and Grose) and we are still looking for who those guys could be,” Barnett said. “Multiple guys are in there competing. Kendell Brooks, A.J. Kirk, Jaden Mangham - all those guys are competing to see who can be that next guy to go in. They know that it’s a competition and we’re still looking.”
Kendell Brooks, a 2021 transfer from North Greenville (S.C.) University, was a regular on special teams for the Spartans last fall but never broke into the defensive playing group. Brooks, a senior, finished 2021 with 26 snaps on defense, all coming during mop-up time.
Redshirt freshman A.J. Kirk and true freshman mid-year enrollee Jaden Mangham pack long-term potential and are vying strongly for a role in 2022.
Kirk (6-1, 200, R-Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Hoban) missed last fall with an undisclosed injury. Kirk, the brother of former Ohio State star Mike Doss, emerged with a tremendous senior year at the high school level in 2019 and was viewed as the fastest-rising prospect in Mark Dantonio’s final recruiting class.
Now, Kirk is getting reps with the second string and pounding on the door for a role.
“He is coming along,” Barnett said of Kirk. “With graduate assistants and analysts, he gets all the extra time that he needs. Give him credit for that. He will come in and ask whoever will help him to go over things extra to make sure he gets it down.
“He plays with a lot of energy and passion. He is still trying to learn the defense and get it down, and he’s coming. He has turned the corner a little bit and he’s moving forward. So we will see how it goes, especially as we get into the summer.”
Mangham (6-2, 170, Fr., Bingham Farms, Mich/Birmingham Groves) was the No. 3-rated player in MSU’s 2022 recruiting class according to Rivals.com, trailing only QB Katin Houser and DT Alex VanSumeren.
Mangham enrolled in January and has been making the transition to the college game.
“He is going to continue to get bigger, stronger and faster,” Barnett said. “He has some toughness. He’s smart. He understands and he is willing to do everything that’s needed to get better. He is doing well.
“Every day after practice he’s like, ‘Coach, what do I need to do? What do I need to do?’ You love that about a kid. Can’t enough of a kid doing that.
“We keep him more as a free safety in our system,” Barnett added. “He is a middle of the field player a lot of times when we are playing single high. And we play enough two-high where he has to get down in the box as well.
“He is only going to continue to get better and better every day.”
While Kirk and Mangham learn the craft, Grose needs to hone his as well. He feels he has an improved handle on things.
“I’m very, very comfortable," Grose said. "The game is slowing down now. I’m seeing things way better and I’m understanding the defense way better. Now that I know the defense pretty well, it’s more of seeing what the offense is doing. Game plan. I need to do better there.”
He and his defensive back mates are more equipped than a year ago.
“Most of those guys, they weren’t here in the spring," Grose said. "So guys were still learning.”
He feels the heat from talented young players on the second string.
“They come in every day ready to compete, which makes us all go harder, the way they come in ready to play,” Grose said.
Grose battled through a wrist injury last year and proved to be a durable soldier. But he will need to play better this year in order to hold onto his job, as the Spartans will have more talent at second-string safety than in 2021.