Michigan State's Khris Bogle 'comfortable' with new staff and new role

Khris Bogle is familiar with coaching staff changes. The defensive end started his college career at Florida under Dan Mullen, transferred to Michigan State under Mel Tucker and he had to learn a new scheme and new terminology each time.

For Bogle, the scheme went from a 3-4 defensive front with the Gators to a front with four defensive linemen when he originally transferred to East Lansing.

“The scheme just changed up a little bit and I had to gain more weight, be faster, stuff like that,” Bogle said about what changed from Florida to MSU.

Now in his third season with the Spartans, he’s needing to learn another scheme and more new terminology under the latest coaching staff led by head coach Jonathan Smith. On top of having three different head coaches in his college career, Bogle has also had several different position coaches.

“Learning from one position coach to another was kind of difficult,” Bogle said. “But the scheme stayed the same (after position coaching changes with the previous regime). I’m just comfortable with the staff we have right now.”

Now, Bogle is learning under defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa and rush ends coach Chad Wilt. Suiaunoa came over with Smith to East Lansing from Oregon State.

“He’s a pass rush coach,” Bogle said about Suiaunoa. “We’re trying to get to the quarterback to the best of our ability this year which is really big.”

Since Bogle has experience going through new coaching staffs, he has a sense of how to handle it all.

“Just try to forget everything that we worked with the last staff because it’s a whole new staff,” Bogle said about what advice he would give others when going through a staff change. “Everything is a clean slate. It’s brand new. Just take it day-by-day. That’s the main key point, take it day-by-day. Just try to figure out where you stand amongst the rest, but every day you gotta compete, which is way better than how it was before.”

At one point, Bogle wasn’t entirely sure that he was going to stay at MSU. He entered his name in the transfer portal on Dec. 9, 2023. When deciding whether to stay in East Lansing, he had talks with another defensive lineman who entered his name into the transfer portal – Derrick Harmon.

“He just encouraged me to give the new coaching staff a chance,” Bogle said about the conversations he had with Harmon. “And when he said that, and he’s like my brother, I play next to him on the line too, so when he told me that, I just felt like – he’s coming back, we got Sim[eon Barrow] coming back, I can come back – we could be dominant in the Big Ten. So I feel like we probably will have one of the best D-lines in the Big Ten.”

Also, the connection to Michigan State grew for Bogle over his previous two seasons in East Lansing. That was the “main reason” why he decided to eventually withdraw his name from the transfer portal alongside Harmon.

“I talked to Coach Smith, Coach Wilt, Coach (Joe) Rossi and I just felt like my role here was better, especially being an older guy and being a leader to the younger guys,” Bogle said. “I felt like if I come back, (other guys) will decide to come back also and we’ll just build a better team.”

Bogle will be in a different role this season now that this is his third season with the Spartans and now that it’s a new scheme under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi.

The rush end position is a Rossi staple. Bogle described the position as similar to an outside linebacker out of a 4-3 front. It's something that’s similar to what his role was for the Gators. Rossi’s rush ends will be asked to rush the quarterback and be athletic enough to drop back in coverage.

“My speed, my technique, my size,” said Bogle about his skillset that will help him at rush end. “I would say I’m bigger and I’m faster and I’m stronger than I was before so that will definitely help me.”

Bogle, Jalen Thompson, Bai Jobe, James Schott, and Jay Coyne are some of the names that are getting reps at rush end in practice.

In the 2022 season, Bogle’s campaign was cut short due to a leg injury. Before his injury, Bogle had 11 tackles, three tackles for loss, and one sack in four games played.

“I was down on myself for a little bit, but everybody has a plan,” Bogle said about his injury. “God has a plan for not only me, but for my teammates as well. At the end of the day, I mean it’s football. Injuries do happen, but it’s how you bounce back.”

His production was only slightly better in 2023, despite playing in double the games. Bogle ended the 2023 season with 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

“Last year I kind of played stationary,” Bogle said, reflecting on his 2023 performance. “It was kind of a stationary defense. I was healthy but I made a few key plays. This year, I feel like my role is way better than it was in the past and just to be an older guy and just bring everyone around me, because I’m a team guy first, I just want to bring everybody around me to the next level.”

Bogle noted that he is taking care of his body and is feeling healthy. He tries to come into the building twice a day doing cold tub treatments, stretching, and therapy sessions.

“I feel like as you get older, your body breaks down,” Bogle said. “With me, I’m actually the most healthy I’ve ever been in my life right now.”

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