Back in his prime, new Michigan State co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Max Bullough was one of the best at his craft in college football.
The All-Big Ten linebacker and budding Spartan legend helped lead some of the greatest defenses in program history under Mark Dantonio, and now he gets to take what he learned from a Hall of Fame coach — and during his time in the NFL — and preach it to his new players in East Lansing.
Bullough had spent the past few seasons at Notre Dame, working his way up from grad assistant to linebackers coach, and the Irish reportedly did everything they could to keep him in South Bend, but the draw of returning home was too much.
Max was made for East Lansing, and his return home has everyone excited.
That includes Michigan State’s official X account. The excitement surrounding Bullough’s return home is palpable, and the Spartans’ official X account had fans ready to run through a brick wall with an incredible hype video featuring the new Spartan coach.
NO BRICK WALLS ARE SAFE‼️😤 pic.twitter.com/bB9rlZMEto
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) December 30, 2025
I mean, how can you not love that? Bullough was the epitome of a Spartan linebacker: tough, gritty, physical, and athletic. He played hard and he played through the whistle. He never took plays off. If that’s how he was as a college athlete, just imagine how good he’s going to be as a coach.
Bullough is one of the top hires that Fitzgerald has made, and this hype video has just about every Spartan fan in existence buying into the defense.
Michigan State’s defensive coaching staff could be special
While the offensive coaching staff is getting ridiculed by national media members for a quarterbacks coach hire, the defensive staff has drawn nothing but praise.
The return of Joe Rossi didn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence in Fitzgerald’s ability to piece together a staff, but his shortcomings were due more to personnel issues and less scheme issues. His defense improved throughout the year, and he was one of the few coaches who actually acted like he wanted to be there.
Rossi will be joined by Bullough as his co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. The former Spartan linebacker is one of the brightest young minds in the coaching landscape, and Notre Dame fans loved him.
The defensive line is reportedly being coached by Winston DeLattiboudere III who is currently with the Arizona Cardinals as their defensive line coach, but he’s supposed to join the Spartans once the NFL season is over with. He did, however, decline to comment on the job last week.
Lastly, James Adams was retained as safeties coach, and like Rossi, I’m willing to give him another shot with better players at his disposal. He’ll be joined by Iowa State cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat who has drawn rave reviews as well.
The defensive staff is looking young, and scary-good.