Most position coaches like to trumpet his and his team’s successes on the recruiting trail. Michigan State’s Ron Burton is just like that -- until it gets to this time of the year.
Four-star defensive end Raequan Williams was part of a 2015 MSU recruiting class that ranked third in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally, the same ranking as last year and the best since the 2009 class ranked 17th. Rightly so, Burton, the Spartans’ defensive line coach, was proud of how the addition of Williams -- as well as three-star ends Justice Alexander and Mufi Hunt -- added to the luster of the Top 25 class.
With the recruits hitting the East Lansing area, though, all the star talk goes on the window.
“The stars are gone when you hit our campus, and everyone starts from Square One, and that’s the way coach (Mark) Dantonio always wants it,” the third-year MSU assistant told mlive.com. “The kids we have coming in up front, we’ll give them the opportunity and time will tell.”
The Spartans return seven defensive starters, including three seniors along the line, from a squad that went 11-2 last season and beat baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Also returning to a line that helped the Spartans finish 22nd nationally in scoring defense (21.5 points per game) and first in run defense (88.5 yards per game) are a handful players who were a part of the 2014 rotation.
(Photo credit: Michigan State athletics)