Michigan State's Malcolm Bell, right, reacts after getting called for pass interference against Michigan's Andrew Marsh during the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

MSU Hires Assistant DBs Coach

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Jan 20, 2026 6:13 AM ET

Michigan State has added another person to its defensive coaching staff.

The Spartans have hired Ted Flaherty to be the team's new assistant defensive backs coach, according to Flaherty's bio on Twitter/X. Flaherty was previously the secondary coach at Dayton at the FCS level. He overlapped with MSU defensive coordinator Joe Rossi at Minnesota during the 2021 season, where Flaherty was a defensive intern who worked with the Golden Gophers' linebackers.

Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, Flaherty will get the chance to work underneath Rossi again. He will now get the chance to also work with new cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat and retained safeties coach James Adams.

Some other notable football experience includes his beginning as the outside linebackers coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He's also a former player himself, having played linebacker for four years at Curry College, which is located in Massachusetts.

More on Flaherty, DB Outlook at MSU

One interesting little thing is that Dayton's bio of Flaherty says that he worked with UD's "Flyer" position, which was a hybrid between a linebacker and defensive back. Rossi's defense doesn't really have a position like that, but Michigan State did add one player from the transfer portal prospect who would fit really well there.

That player is Albany transfer Cam Stodghill. He played a lot of linebacker and defensive back this past season and brings two more seasons of eligibility to East Lansing. It remains to be seen if any sort of hybrid position pops up at Michigan State, but if it does, Stodghill is a name to watch.

MSU's room of defensive backs has gone through a lot of change during the transfer portal period as well. The Spartans' top three outside corners from this past season have all left. Malcolm Bell and Joshua Eaton both ran out of eligibility, while the promising and young Aydan West transferred to Minnesota.

The Spartans also saw some change at safety. Malik Spencer also ran out of eligibility, and Armorion Smith transferred to Toledo. One key returner is Nikai Martinez, who didn't play much in 2025 due to injury, but he has announced that he'll be back in East Lansing for the 2026 season.

Several key additions have been made through the portal, too. The most notable one is the return of Charles Brantley, who starred at MSU before transferring to Miami (FL) last offseason. Another key addition was Iowa State transfer Tre Bell, whom Poteat had been coaching in Ames.