Sudden depth at safety, led by Jaden Mangham, a ‘great situation’ for Michigan State defense
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State junior defensive back Jaden Mangham has not been shy about expressing his desire to play at the next level – the NFL.
And he’s using his development during the Spartans’ spring football practices with a new coaching staff to put himself and his teammates in the best position possible to rebound from a disastrous four-win 2023 season, while improving his standing for a shot at the next level.
“The approach (from the new staff), I like how they come out, and coach us, just tell us the truth; what we do good and what we do bad,’’ Mangham said. “They show us what we need to fix more than showing (us) the good things because you need to know what you do wrong, instead of what you did good so you can improve on that.
“It’s really just them telling us what they need from us and then really just telling us the truth overall, so we can be able to get the job done.”
The last datapoint of the spring will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday when Michigan State plays host to the Spring Showcase, the new name for the Spartans’ annual spring scrimmage. The scrimmage will be televised by BTN at 2 p.m.
The format will include four 10-minute quarters of running time, pitting the offense against the defense. The defense will be spotted a certain number of points, and the offense will try to catch up.
Mangham, Malik Spencer and Dillon Tatum have been repping at the two, first-string safety positions. Tatum started at cornerback last year, but moved inside for spring ball.
“He (Tatum) hasn’t repped at corner, but he comes in and meets extra, and works on things as far as technique, and what we’re looking at as far as our keys and things like that,” said Michigan State cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin. “He hasn’t gotten any physical reps at corner, but I’ve seen on film that I know he can do it so I keep him abreast on things.
“He’s doing really well at safety. He’s doing really well.”
Martin said in Joe Rossi’s defensive system, the two safety positions and nickel back are interchangeable.
“The way Coach Blue (Adams) teaches those guys, they have to know all three of those positions,” Martin said of Michigan State’s safeties/defensive backs coach. “I’m teaching the corners in my room, they have to know nickel. And if you know nickel, you can pretty much survive at safety.”
Michigan State has been repping Angelo Grose and Khalil Majeed at nickel back.
That begs the question: If Tatum spent the entire spring at safety, and the Spartans already have Mangham and Spencer there, who are going to be the two starters?
“It’s a great situation to have,” Martin said. “I mean that’s a great problem. We’ve got guys repping around. I couldn’t tell you, rolling the ball out right now, who would be the starters. When we have the spring game, you’re going to see multiple guys, like hockey (lines): You’re in, now you’re in. So we’re just trying to get guys reps and give them as much of a game atmosphere as we can and see how they react in this new scheme.”
And remember that Tatum can theoretically slide down to nickel back at any time, with the positions being interchangeable. Note that the safety positions and nickel back themselves are not identical positions, but the players playing them have to be able to shift from one position to another, depending on what the offense might present at pre-snap.
Michigan State’s defensive back coaches came into spring practice with a solid feeling for what each player could do, but wanted to build on it during the 15 practices in March and April.
“When (the new coaching staff) first came in, they had broken down a lot of our film already,” Mangham said. “So they watched some of the games, and some of the stuff they said I’ve got to improve on is (not) taking plays off. And that’s the truth. I felt like I left some things on the field out there last year that I have to improve on.
“And every day, Coach Blue (Adams) makes sure he stays on top of me so that I can keep learning and build on my football IQ, and making more plays.’’
Known as one of Michigan State’s hardest hitters in the secondary last season, the 6-foot-2, 191-pound Mangham has played in 20 games with 12 starts at safety – compiling 73 tackles, with four interceptions, three pass breakups and one fumble recovery. He has added more than 10 pounds to his frame, and is on pace to add more during the summer.
Mangham was a hard-hitter back when he was a skinny freshman. Now he’s getting into some man strength, as the Spartan football program goes through a transformation of its own.
“You know, it’s not nothing crazy because the end-all goal is to be in the NFL,” Mangham said. “The NFL is almost the same. It’s a business. Things are going to move around, you’re going to get traded or anything (can happen). So, you just have to learn to adjust and be able to move on with things. (In terms of last season), it’s definitely not what I signed up for but at the same time, it’s not going to stop me from my end goal.’’
An honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media despite last season’s team missteps, Mangham ranked tied for sixth in the Big Ten with a team-best four picks, while ranking sixth on the team and third among Spartan defensive backs with 53 tackles.
“We’re still a work in progress, but I think (Jaden) Mangham is a big-time player,” Adams said earlier this spring. “I think Malik Spencer is a big-time player. DT (Dillon Tatum) is a big-time player. You got Chance Rucker, who’s a young dude, you got (guys like) Chuck (Charles Brantley) that have been here. So you have some guys on that back end that can do it.”
Mangham said he would like to start the season at around 205 pounds.
“They’re asking a lot of us but we have to live up to what they’re asking and I like that because they’re holding us to a higher standard,” he said. “So, for me that’s running to the ball (on every down), having a better football IQ, not taking plays off, and making more plays,” Mangham said. “We got away with a lot of stuff last year that wasn’t good and obviously showed up on the field and they’re trying to get all of that out of here.”
That’s a process that will take more than 15 practices to change.
“You know what happened last year, it was definitely tough, but at the same time, we can’t let that define who we are,” Mangham said. “So coming into this year, we just have to be better. We have to do a lot more things down to the last detail. We got to be smarter players. We’ve got to make more plays to get to where we want to be. We have to be better overall, the whole team; offense, defense and special teams. What we did last year just wasn’t what we really are.
“As a defensive group, I feel like this year coming up, there’s going to be a real test to show who we are, the whole defense.”
Mangham is cognizant of the fact that his hunger for success is tied into the defense’s goals of being much better than the one that surrendered an average of 151.6 yards per game on the ground, 28.3 points per contest and 237.8 yards through the air in 2023.
“What they’re trying to do, they’re trying to turn us into a pro defense and (one) that is stopping big plays,’’ he said. “They want us to create takeaways, eliminate explosive and the big thing is stopping the run. I’d say we have to improve on that definitely. Our pass game coverage too.’’
That pretty much covers it. There is a lot of work to do. But Mangham and the Spartans feel like a lot of work has been completed during the first 14 practices of the spring, with Saturday’s scrimmage marking the last time they’ll be in pads until August camp.
Jaden Mangham secures an interception during Michigan State’s victory over Nebraska on Nov. 4. Mangham led Michigan State with four interceptions last season, but this interception was called back due to a Spartan penalty. (Photo by Nick King | USA Today Sports).
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