Michigan State Football Positional Preview: Linebackers

One of the biggest (and most popular) moves Pat Fitzgerald made this offseason was bringing back program legend Max Bullough to his alma mater. Bullough was previously the linebackers coach at Notre Dame. He is also getting a co-defensive coordinator tag with his job title, but Joe Rossi is still the clear-cut main DC. Bullough's $750k salary this year is the highest among the team's position coaches.

The Star: Jordan Hall

Jordan Hall should be looked at as Michigan State's best player entering the 2026 season. He was the best part of the Spartans' defense last fall, finishing with a team-high 88 tackles, a team-high three forced fumbles, a tie for the team high at 2.5 sacks, and an interception. Hall was also putting up those numbers despite playing through turf toe and a torn oblique for a big chunk of the season.

Hall's loyalty to MSU is also quite admirable. Fitzgerald will be the third different permanent head coach he'll play for in four seasons with the program. He and tight end Brennan Parachek are the only remaining scholarship players from the team's 2023 recruiting class.

Starting OLB: Caleb Wheatland

Auburn transfer Caleb Wheatland feels like he's in line to be Michigan State's other starter. He appeared in only three games last year with the Tigers, redshirting, but Wheatland was a significant contributor at Maryland the two seasons before that. Wheatland had 41 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2023 for the Terrapins, and then 42 tackles and a team-high 4.0 sacks in 2024.

This is a small sidebar, but the linebackers should be a big part of the team's pass rush this season. Hall, Wheatland, and the next guy up all have decent histories of getting to the quarterback and should help out the defensive line a fair bit as blitzers.

Major Role in Rotation: Dion Crawford

Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford should also see the field a lot. What should help him out is that he can serve as an outside/WILL linebacker, and he can also back up Hall as the middle/MIKE linebacker.

Crawford had a highly productive three years at Buffalo. He received Third Team All-MAC honors while mostly serving as a pass rusher in 2024, racking up 15.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Crawford moved back to a more traditional linebacker role in 2025 -- he made 81 total tackles, though his TFLs dropped to 5.0 and his sacks dropped to 3.5.

Other Potential Contributors/the Rest

Cam Stodghill

Cam Stodghill is another one of Michigan State's interesting portal pickups. He's coming over from Albany, where he served as a hybrid linebacker and defensive back. MSU will have him focus on linebacker during his first season with the program, but his experience as a DB will help Stodghill get on the field more often on obvious passing downs.

Stodghill had 65 tackles in just seven games with Albany in 2025, including 10 in one game against Iowa.

Brady Pretzlaff

Third-year linebacker Brady Pretzlaff is also an interesting piece of the defense. He was set to get some regular snaps last season as a redshirt freshman, but Pretzlaff suffered a season-ending injury in Week 3 against Youngstown State. Pretzlaff is a former 4-star recruit who flipped from Minnesota to MSU late in the recruiting process after the Spartans and Jonathan Smith hired Rossi as DC away from the Golden Gophers.

DeJae White

One of the interesting young prospects at linebacker is DeJae White. He didn't appear in a game during his true freshman season with the program, although he was a Scout Team Player of the Week once. White was generally in the high-3-star range in the 2025 class, ultimately earning a 4-star rating from 247Sports.

DiMari Malone

Another part of Michigan State's young core is DiMari Malone. Like White, he also didn't appear in a game during his true freshman season with the Spartans. Malone got Scout Team Player of the Week honors twice. Malone was a consensus 3-star recruit in the class of 2025, finishing ranked 896th overall and 15th among Michiganders, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.

Adam Shaw

True freshman Adam Shaw has also gotten some pretty good reviews thus far. He was on the field a lot during this past April's spring scrimmage, largely working with the second-teamers. Shaw is the son of former MSU team captain and All-American offensive lineman Scott Shaw.

Non-Scholarship Linebacker: Jack Lansing III