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Published Aug 25, 2023
Michigan State LB Aaron Brule: 'Ready to show what I came here to do'
Ryan O'Bleness  •  Spartans Illustrated
Managing Editor
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@ryanobleness

Linebacker Aaron Brule enters his sixth year of college football in 2023, and second year at Michigan State.

Brule transferred from Mississippi State to Michigan State last season, and arrived in East Lansing in January 2022. During his first year with the Spartans in 2022, he played in all 12 games (two starts), and recorded 30 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and a fumble recovery.

In 2023, Brule returns to a deep linebackers group that includes redshirt senior Jacoby Windmon, redshirt junior Cal Haladay, redshirt junior Darius Snow (who has been practicing in drills, but is still recovering from a significant leg injury), junior Ma'a Gaoteote, true freshman Jordan Hall and others.

While there are many linebackers in the room fighting for playing time — and Michigan State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton often opts to only play two linebackers on the field at a time — Brule is ready to make his presence felt during his final year of eligibility.

“I'm really comfortable," Brule said earlier this week when asked about being in his second year with Michigan State. 'I'm really ready to get going and show everybody what I really came here to do."

After learning more about the program and getting used to his surroundings in East Lansing, Brule feels like he has grown a lot between his first year with the Spartans and now. He has a better understanding of Hazelton's system and his role in the defense, and he is more self-assured.

Brule also feels a strong bond with his fellow linebackers, and believes the group will find a lot of success in 2023.

"(I've been) growing myself, as far as knowing the plays, being more put together in my footwork and things like that," Brule said. "I'm much more comfortable, way more confident. Everybody together, we already have a strong relationship. So, just working together and being an aggressive group, all in one, we should do really well."

Brule was also asked about the instinctive part of playing linebacker, particularly when playing in a two-gap defensive scheme, and how much more comfortable he is in Michigan State's system in his second year compared to his first year.

"It's definitely getting easier for me to two-gap," Brule said. "Coming from a system that I was in (at Mississippi State), it was a run-and-gun, not necessarily having to get off blocks and shed and things like that. But with me cleaning up my footwork, getting downhill, and using my hands a lot more and knowing my assignments has been smooth for me (at Michigan State)."

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Brule has been primarily playing as the WILL (weak-side linebacker) position throughout fall camp and has also been learning the SAM (strong-side linebacker) as well.

Brule sees himself as being on the field for all three downs. However, with Brule, Windmon and Haladay all looking to play a lot of snaps this year, it may be difficult to evenly disperse those reps in a two-linebacker alignment. However, Hazelton will trot out three linebackers on the field in certain situations, especially in obvious running downs or when opposing teams have heavy personnel on the field.

"I'm playing a lot of WILL right now," Brule said about his position. "SAM, trying to build some depth with Harold Joiner and Aaron Alexander at SAM also, due to me possibly playing some more inside 'backer and things like that. So SAM, WILL, wherever Coach (Hazelton) needs me to play, I'm ready to play. (I'm a) three-down linebacker), first through third, definitely."

Regardless of what the staring lineup looks like for each game, the linebackers will be able to rotate in and keep each other fresh. All of the players at the position know what is expected of them, and will be ready to go when they're called upon.

"All linebackers, we work in together, we play with ones, twos, so, I mean, it's not necessarily who's starting or who's not, it's just whoever's available for that game," Brule said. "It's almost like a flip a coin type of thing. So, we're just ready when that time comes and whoever's up, up."

In addition to the linebackers, Brule has a lot of confidence in Michigan State's defensive line. He believes the players in the defensive trenches will do a good job of taking on blockers, eating up space and freeing up the linebackers to make tackles. As a whole, the Spartans' defensive front is expected to work together well.

“Our D-line is holding up real well right now for us, giving us some clean lanes to run and make plays," Brule said. "I'm really loving it. Everybody inside, we don't want anybody to run the ball against us and things like that. So, that's our keys, getting pressure on the quarterbacks to help the back end out as much as we can and just rolling with the punches. Everybody's all hands on deck, ready to go."

While Brule, Windmon and Haladay will likely be Michigan State's top-three linebackers this season (and Snow looks to reenter the mix when fully healthy), Hall is also expected to earn reps. It remains to be seen exactly how much Hall will play, but according to Brule, the true freshman has impressed and could carve out a role early.

"He's really up to date," Brule said about Hall. "I could recall myself as a freshman (at Mississippi State), I didn't even almost play. So, I mean, with him, he's really good. He's very smart. He can be a little tough on himself sometimes, but he's freaky smart, too, at the same time. So we expect him to step in as needed this season."

Brule and the other veteran linebackers, along with Hazelton, have provided guidance to Hall, but he has also figured a lot of things out on his own. Hall — who is the only three-time captain in IMG Academy history — will go through growing pains as a first-year player, but will learn a lot throughout the process.

"It wasn't really necessarily about taking him under our wing because he's really grown," Brule explained about Hall. "He's a grown man. So, we just give him advice as needed ... and just let him go. He's gonna make mistakes, but he's moving fast, so that's a good thing."

While he looks to expand his role in 2023, Brule also had to step up in 2022 when Windmon was suspended for the final four games of the campaign due to his role in the tunnel incident at Michigan.

At the time, Brule spoke with Windmon and then-pass rush specialist coach Brandon "BT" Jordan about what he needed to do in order to provide a boost for his team.

"We had guys like BT Jordan here at the time, and me, (Jacoby) and him, we would talk on the phone and stuff like that and they were just telling me to play my game," Brule said about stepping in for Windmon. "They know what I can do. And with (Windmon) out, I was able to step in and take over his role and just do what I needed to do to help the team win."

Brule discussed what it was like for him and Windmon during that time. Even when Windmon was suspended from team activities, Brule and others stayed in close contact with him and provided support. By the time Windmon was reinstated, it didn't feel like much had changed in terms of chemistry.

"You gotta give him some time," Brule said about Windmon when he was suspended. "Obviously it's probably hard for him to process that during that time. We just checked in on him, everybody was checking in on him. He was in really good spirits. He was able to spend time with his family and whatnot, and always be around for the team. We'd hang out with him when we were not at practice and stuff like that. So he always was in really good spirits throughout the whole process. When he was able to come back, we were all pretty still (connected to) him."

Getting back to the 2023 season, Brule also spoke about how the offensive line and defense has been challenging each other throughout fall camp. Brule noted that there is a lot of talent on the roster, on both sides of the ball, and they're making each other better every day.

"That whole O-line, they're really tough," Brule said about Michigan State's offensive line. "The coaches kind of keep us all on our toes as far as who's doing good and who's doing bad. So, you don't really know if you're doing good that day, you just know if you don't give a hundred percent, then you know you're doing bad. If you're doing real good, it's not like they're gonna really tell you you're doing good because they want you to keep doing good.

"But with the looks that those guys give us, and the toughness that we all play with, it's like a war every day at practice. So, we're making each other better and it's next level guys on both sides of the ball."

To that point, Michigan State had its second team scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 19. Brule was pleased with the full team's effort as the players brought the best out of each other.

"I think the scrimmage went real well, both sides of the ball," Brule noted. "The offense gives us great, great looks. There's guys on both sides of the ball that really give great looks, and it's really good on good all around. So I think come season time, we should really be sharpened up. It was a really good scrimmage."

Head coach Mel Tucker recently mentioned that "separation (on the roster) becomes more clear" after the second scrimmage. That means that by this time, Michigan State's coaches have a pretty clear idea of what the Spartans' two-deep and scout team will look like.

Michigan State's linebackers room looks deep and strong heading into the 2023 season. Fans will get their first look at the Spartans very soon as MSU takes on Central Michigan on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1.

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