Michigan State Football: Spartans expected to hire defensive line/pass rush trainer Brandon Jordan as defensive ends coach

Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker currently has a vacancy on his coaching staff, at least officially, after cornerbacks coach Travares Tillman left for Georgia Tech and running backs coach William Peagler departed for Florida.

Tucker offically hired Effrem Reed as Michigan State’s next running backs coach on Thursday to replace Peagler, a move that was widely known for several weeks beforehand.

Regarding the other open spot on the coaching staff, Tucker is seemingly making an innovative, and somewhat unprecedented move. According to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, Michigan State is planing to hire offensive line, defensive line and pass-rushing trainer Brandon T. Jordan as its next defensive ends coach/pass rush specialist.

Several other media outlets have since confirmed the reports, including 247Sports’ SpartanTailgate.com.

If this move is indeed made, Jordan would coach the defensive ends while current defensive line coach Ron Burton would move his focus to the defensive tackles. MSU also would not be filling the cornerbacks coach vacancy left by Tillman’s departure, and would instead have a sole defensive backs coach, likely Harlon Barnett, whose current title is already “secondary coach.”

The reason this move is interesting is because Jordan doesn’t have too much college coaching experience. What he does have, however, is an incredibly impressive resume, training nearly 200 NFL players currently on active rosters.

Some of the NFL pass-rushers Jordan has trained include T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers), Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh Steelers, brother of MSU’s Connor Heyward), Maxx Crosby, (Las Vegas Raiders), Chandler Jones (Arizona Cardinals), Josh Allen (Jacksonville Jaguars), Jadeveon Clowney (Cleveland Browns), DeMarcus Lawrence (Dallas Cowboys), Von Miller (Los Angeles Rams), William Gholston (Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Michigan State Spartan), Brian Burns (Carolina Panthers), Bradley Chubb (Denver Broncos) and Danielle Hunter (Minnesota Vikings), among many others. He’s also worked with NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf (Seattle Seahawks).

According to reports, Jordan is expected to continue training NFL players while coaching at Michigan State. That would likely bring a lot of high-profile athletes into East Lansing and create positive buzz for the program. He is also expected to be an impactful recruiter, as he already works with high school players. However, if that is the plan for Jordan, how he plans to manage both his independent training role and new full-time assistant coaching role with MSU will be interesting to see.

At least one of Jordan’s trainees in Crosby, who recorded eight sacks this season for the Las Vegas Raiders, is a big fan of the move.

Jordan, a New Orleans native, does have some college football coaching experience as well. He previously served as the defensive line coach for Austin Peay for a couple of seasons in 2014 and 2015, and also worked as graduate assistant for the Governors in 2013. He played college football at Missouri S&T as an offensive lineman.

Stay tuned to The Only Colors, as we’ll keep you updated when the move becomes official.