As long as you’re making plays, it really doesn’t matter what you’re position you’re playing. It doesn’t really matter, in my opinion, where I’m at on the field, I’m gonna make plays. “At the end of the day, I’m a football player that makes plays. I got here and coach (Lorenzo) Guess, a strength coach, said I need to put on weight, he said I was too small. In high school, I had no intentions to do it I was a 6 foot, 6-foot-1, 190(-pound) safety. “They said it was best for my future, and I trust the coaches, so that’s why I moved. “It was the coaches’ decision, coaches’ decision,” Snow said. were able to sell Snow on the switch being mutually beneficial, and the junior said he’s embraced it, though he prefers to call himself “an athlete that is playing linebacker.” He was a safety through and through, in his eyes. As a four-star recruit in the class of 2020, Snow would routinely dismiss the idea of eventually growing into a linebacker. Snow now finds himself on a path he was initially resistant toward coming out of Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. When MSU’s fall roster was released in late July, the “LB” next to Snow’s name made it clear the experimentation phase was over. He looked really good there in the spring, and so we feel like that’s the best fit for him and beyond. There still may be a role for him in our secondary in some packages because of his versatility, but he has a nose for the ball and obviously he’s got the pedigree. “He’s a big guy, he’s a physical player, and he does have versatility. “I believe that’s a natural position for him,” Tucker said. So they spent their 15 spring practices experimenting with Snow in the second level, and they liked what they saw.

In the leadup to spring ball, MSU’s coaches realized Snow played like a linebacker, hit like a linebacker and boasted a thicker frame similar to the smaller, hybrid linebackers that are thriving in the modern game. He commanded a larger role as the year unfolded and overtook the more experienced Michael Dowell for the starting nickel gig mid-season, finishing with 87 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one interception, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery. So does acquiring veteran linebackers Jacoby Windmon and Aaron Brule from UNLV and Mississippi State, respectively.Īfter playing sparingly as a true freshman in 2020, Snow initially turned heads as a sophomore with his physicality and play-making instincts. We’ll see.”Ĭonverting Snow, MSU’s third-leading tackler and starting nickelback the final nine games last year, accounts for a segment of Tucker’s assessment. That linebacker group is very competitive, and I believe it’s gonna be a really strong group for us, maybe the strength of our defense. We’re gonna keep everyone fresh, put guys in position to do what they can do well, because we have versatility in our package. If you deserve to play, we’re gonna find a way to get you on the field somehow, some way. But I like to play a lot of guys defensively. “It’s gonna be interesting to see how fall camp goes to see how it kind of shakes out. “The guys are athletic, they can run, they can hit, it’s very competitive,” Tucker said. Inconsistent and inexperienced in 2021, the Spartans have restructured the linebacker room – starting at the top, with defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton taking over the position – to the point that it now looks to be one of the deepest on the roster. Here’s a safer prediction: MSU’s linebackers will be markedly better than last fall, and Snow’s addition to the group will play no small part in that improvement. The next four months will reveal whether Snow’s lofty expectations pan out. That’s the theme around MSU’s facility this month, as the Spartans begin their third camp under head coach Mel Tucker – that 2021, exciting as it may have been, was ultimately a sub-standard campaign. After Michigan State’s first practice of training camp, Darius Snow sat in the Spartan Stadium media room and confidently stated, several times, that the 2022 Spartans are a better team than the group that went 11-2 and won the Peach Bowl last season.

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