The entire Michigan State football defensive coaching staff has been officially hired for less than 12 hours and the effects are already being felt.
The Spartans announced the hire of ‘“final piece” Winston DeLattiboudere III on Monday afternoon, and shortly after, they landed a former Maryland starting linebacker, and then two more defensive backs committed to the green and white.
Less than 24 hours after visiting Auburn, Iowa State cornerback Tre Bell announced that he’d be following Hank Poteat to East Lansing, per Justin Thind.
Bell wasn’t the only talented, starting-caliber defensive back transfer to announce his commitment to Michigan State on Monday afternoon, however. Starting Louisiana Tech defensive back Michael Richard is heading to East Lansing as well, joining three new incoming transfer defensive backs.
Through the first weekend of transfer portal visits, Pat Fitzgerald has secured seven commitments, and four of them have come from defensive backs.
The defensive-minded head coach is taking care of that side of the ball first.
Pat Fitzgerald is focusing heavily on defense
Having a defensive-minded head coach and a complete defensive staff locked down has already proven to be great for that side of the ball.
Fitzgerald and Co. have landed four defensive backs and a linebacker. The other two additions, so far, have been a really solid offensive tackle from UConn named Ben Murawski and Rhys Dakin, a former FWAA Freshman All-American punter from Iowa.
Defense has taken up five of the first seven transfer spots.
Bell was a one-year FBS defensive back at Iowa State, transferring in from the FCS level, and he was a good one. He was productive and looked like one of the top performers in Iowa State’s defensive backfield under Poteat. He had 36 tackles, four tackles for loss, two picks, and two pass breakups in 2025.
As for Richard, he had 104 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, and three interceptions (all coming in 2025) over the past three seasons with Louisiana Tech. He was the C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2023 and was named second-team All-C-USA in 2024.
Along with Richard and Bell, Michigan State has landed Tyran Chappell, a cornerback from Houston Christian, and safety Devin Vaught from Maine.
Not a bad start to the defensive side of the ball in the Fitzgerald era.