Some players are even switching to the opposite side of the ball, as with Ryan Allison’s switch from wide receiver to linebacker.

“He’s come a long way,” Dantonio said. “He was a wide receiver, we worked with him at safety, I think he’s more a model for outside linebacker in our scheme of things. He’s big, he can run, he’s active, he’s been a great player on special teams here. There is no reason he can’t transition into a great linebacker.”

But Allison never faltered, as he was more concerned about improving the team as a whole. After all, if switching roles gives him a better opportunity to see the field in big-game situations, it only makes sense to accept the change.

“I haven’t played defense since eighth grade,” said Allison, who has gained 18 pounds since the end of last season. “It’s a lot more fun being the hammer and not the nail (as a defender). You can dictate what happens there. But the (biggest adjustment) is learning the concept of the defense — knowing the coverages.”

Allison’s teammate, sophomore cornerback Chris L. Rucker, is experiencing a tricky transition as well, going from receiver to the secondary. Dantonio and his coaching staff will look to Rucker for minutes on both sides of the football.

“I played both sides of the ball in high school too, but I can’t even really say (what I like better),” Rucker said. “Everybody’s asking me every day but I just say ‘I don’t know, I like being out there on the field — I expect to play both sides of the ball in the fall.”

And Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. intrasquad scrimmage at Spartan Stadium is the perfect test for these transitions, allowing both the athletes and the coaches to find out what adjustments need to be made.

“Obviously we’re very thin at some positions as many teams are right now, but we’re going to lay it out there and see what happens,” Dantonio said.

Coach’s corner

Dantonio didn’t think his coaching staff was complete going into Saturday’s scrimmage between a Green and a White team.

So he took action on the matter — picking up MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo (for the Green squad) and MSU men’s soccer head coach Joe Baum (for White) to assist with the coaching.

Last year, Izzo called a couple of plays, but this year, he seriously wants in on the action. When asked if that meant maybe tearing into somebody a little bit, he smiled and let everyone know that will be taken care of by MSU’s vocal defensive coordinator.

“This year I plan on getting more involved,” he said while laughing. “I got (Pat) Narduzzi on my staff, I don’t have to worry about (yelling at anyone).”

At Tuesday’s football practice, Izzo and Baum gave their respective teams a pep talk in preparation for the week’s practices.

“I told them if they don’t take one play off — the whole scrimmage — you have a good chance to win,” Baum said. “But if you take a play off here and there, you’ve got a good chance to lose. I said, ‘Don’t let your self down, don’t let your teammates down, don’t let your coaches down. Don’t take a play off.’”