BY Matthew Argillander
margillander@statenews.com
While it’s true replacing former MSU defensive coordinator and current Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi will be no easy task, head coach Mark Dantonio has promoted two men as co-defensive coordinators— Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel.
Barnett has spent the last eight seasons in East Lansing as the defensive backs coach, while Tressel has oversaw the linebackers.
Despite the change, senior cornerback Arjen Colquhoun believes the quality of the MSU defense will remain the same.
“They’ll keep the ball rolling, no one is going to drop the ball,” Colquhoun said. “Coach Tressel and coach Barnett are great guys, they did a great job even when coach Narduzzi was here. “
For Barnett, he doesn’t see Tressel and himself as Narduzzi’s replacements, rather just as the next men up.
“We’re doing what we do, we were and we’re going to remain a team,” Barnett said. “(That’s) how we’ve done things even when Pat was here. We feel like we flow well together, we’re just keeping it rolling.”
Senior linebacker Darien Harris spoke of benefits that come with having two defensive coordinators.
“Coach Tressel and Coach Barnett have been in this system so long they know it like the back of their hand,” Harris said. “We kind of get the best of both worlds with coach Barnett knowing a lot of the secondary and coach Tressel knowing the front seven a lot better. Getting two different perspectives has been really good, they’ve done a great job together.”
For senior defensive end Shlique Calhoun, this year is about proving that.
“(Pat Narduzzi is) a great coach, but at the end of the day we still need to go out and play the way that we’ve played,” Calhoun said. “That’s what we’ll do this year, we will be able to go out and prove that we’re still the same “Spartan Dawg” defense.”
It is effort that will allow the team to pick up where it left off, according to Tressel.
“The effort is like it has been in a (typical) Spartan defense and we’ve emphasized that,” Tressel said. “Don’t kid yourself, the talent hasn’t been what’s made us the best defense in the country, in the Big Ten, whatever it’s been — it’s been the effort.”
Ultimately Dantonio said what will allow a two-defensive coordinator system to work this year is the relationship and lack of egos between both Barnett and Tressel.
“That’s why I made this decision probably two years ago,” Dantonio said. “I don’t think either of those two guys have an ego. I think they get along very, very well with each other. It’s a give and take type of thing.
“I think it’s worked very, very well, and both are experts at what they’ve been coaching. They play off each other.”
Barnett said the two are spreading out some of the things Narduzzi used to do. Barnett is still dealing a lot with the secondary while Tressel deals with the run defense.
Tressel knows disagreements will come, but he sees Barnett as his brother and believes their close relationship will help with the transition.
“Coach Barnett and I have been in this defense for a long time and we get along real well,” Tressel said. “We’re like brothers, we’ve known each other forever. But, I guess, like brothers there will be times when we have debates over which way we want to do things, but ultimately we have a group of guys that get along real well.”
