New Spartan Football 2014 DB Vayante Copeland Talks About Being a Spartan

Q: You're a highly sought after young man, but your situation dictated that you wanted to be at Michigan State. What was it about Michigan State that appealed to you?

A: What I like about Michigan State... I've always liked Michigan State because Javon Ringer went there, RJ Williamson goes there from my community where I'm from. I like the coaching staff. Coach Barnett, I talk to him a lot about the whole process. The relationship I've built with Coach Dantonio too, because he was the only head coach that actually came up to my school. I have a lot of respect for him. He took time out of his day to come to my school, to see me in person, and give me the offer. So that means a lot.

Q: Michigan State has put a lot of DB's in the League. Did that play in to your decision making process?

A: Yes, kind of. When I went on a visit to Michigan State that Sunday, Coach Barnett got me in contact with Darqueze Dennard. I got his number and everything. We were watching the drills and the 40 yard dash. Basically, he was just telling me about Michigan State from his perspective. The coaching staff at Michigan State, they don't try to play somebody in the recruiting process. Through that recruiting process they are who they are. They're not nobody different. They're not gonna try to suck up or whatever, just try to get you. They are who they are. I like those coaches... I've talked to Coach Dantonio a couple of times before I went to school. Sometimes we talked about football, sometimes we talked about life. I kinda respect that. That's kinda basically what made me pick, my decision for Michigan State.

Q: I've had a lot of recruits tell me that Coach Dantonio is more about recruiting the young man than the football player. Did you have that same experience?

A: Experience in...

Q: That he is more about recruiting you as a person than a player. He really wants to get to know you.

A: Exactly.

Q: Did you notice that?

A: Yes. When I talked to him on the phone he was asking, How's your mom doing, how's your dad doing and like that. When I actually made my commitment it wasn't... When I told him I wanted to commit he was like, Good. He was like, Are you sure? Is this gonna benefit your family? You're gonna get a great education. So like I said, I have respect for that. Some coaches, if I probably said yeah I wanna be here, then they would have been like great we need you. But I believe Michigan State would actually say, Are you sure? That kinda shocked me. Yes, I'm sure. Is it gonna benefit you and your family in the long run? And I said, Yes sir. And then he said, Congratulations.

Q: Do you know RJ at all? Do you have a good relationship with him?

A: Yeah, I know him pretty good. I played against him my freshman year. My freshman year we played 7 on 7, two-hand touch. I caught the ball, I turned up field and he'd two-hand touch me, but I wasnâ€™t as big as I am now. He kinda got me down and said, Yeah little man. So when I talked to him... I wanted to see him when I was up there but I think he was out of town so I got on the phone with him, we got in contact, he said congratulations. When I was young, my eighth grade year, I went to a lot of football games. That's where my peewee team went, so I watched RJ a lot. When I talked to him he said he was gonna be down here pretty soon, check me out. We're probably gonna work out and everything. So I got a good relationship with RJ.

Q: Two people that I've talked to about you have used the word "surreal" about you, that you're not real impressed with yourself and you're very level-headed. Can you talk about that? Is that something that comes from your family or is it just something internally with you that has you matured beyond your age?

A: It's basically because of my family and the people I actually grew up around. I get a lot of being humble from my mom. She teaches...be humble, don't be selfish, always try to give back. A lot of the time I go to my peewee team, help other players and everything like that. It's not all about me sometimes. You gotta give back. You've gotta be thankful for what you get. So basically, like you said, I'll always wanna give back. You gotta be humble. There's people that are less fortunate than you. Whatever you can do, try to give back. That's kinda where my mentality is. If I have the time...I'll talk to young kids a lot, a lot of young kids. Our school's not in the nicest neighborhood. Some kids actually come up from inner city elementary, middle schools. Our head coach tells me to basically kinda talk to them and everything. I talk to them and tell them what path they need to take in life and everything like that. Try to get them on the right track and get their families back together. So you gotta be humble.

Q: Vayante, do you know what you wanna major in yet?

A: I like science. Either something in science or business management would be good.

Q: What would you like to do with a science degree?

A: I was talking to my chemistry teacher, he said being a teacher... Because I kinda have the, I guess you could say, the look or I kinda have... He said I could probably be a good teacher. So either a teacher or...I like biology, anatomy, stuff like that. Something like that would kinda be interesting.

Q: Or maybe a doctor, huh?

A: Exactly. We actually have one our football staff. He's our defensive line coach. He's a burn surgeon. A doctor would be...he kinda talks to me a lot about life after football and everything like that. So a doctor wouldn't be bad.

Q: What part of your game is most ready for college right now?

A: I got a knack for the ball. That's kinda what my coaches tell me. If a college coach would ask me what is your strong point, I would say as a defensive back pinpointing the ball. Like I said, I have knack for the ball. I was a running back too. I like having the ball in my hands and I like tackling. That's probably what I kinda be ready at the next level...is being aggressive, basically having a knack for the ball.

Q: What do you think you have to get better at?

A: As a football player?

Q: Yes sir.

A: As a football player, basically keeping my pads low. Like a running back, you kinda run up and down. I try to do track too so I kinda stay up and down. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes I gotta work on getting out of my breaks a little faster. I can work on that. Basically like I said, pad level...keeping my pads down all the time. Basically working on that.

Q: Do you think you fit more at corner or safety, or is it gonna be determined later?

A: If I had a preference, I like corner. That's actually what I play. But if I go to Michigan State and they tell me I need to play safety, that's perfect. It doesn't even matter. Whatever I can help the team the most as is where I'll play. If you don't need corner but you need safety, I'll play safety. I have no problem playing safety. I played some safety at practice my freshman year. I came in on nickel and cover 2. That's kinda basically where I came in. Like I said, either/or, really doesn't matter to me.

Q: You have an ability to go up and get the ball at its highest point. You have a great ball skill. Does it come from great coaching or is it just God-given talent?

A: It may be God-given, but in my younger days and in High School now we do a lot of jump ball drills, we do a lot of ten in the fade. Basically those situations where you have to go get the ball at its highest point. Our head coach, Coach White, he says if you wanna be a great corner you have to pinpoint the ball at its highest point. You don't know, are you gonna be guarding a tall receiver or are you gonna be guarding a short receiver? So if you know you're guarding a tall receiver you can't let the ball come down to you. You gotta pinpoint at the highest point. Like I said, I got a knack for the ball. I want the ball at its highest point. Wherever I can get it, I like to get.

Q: You have an absolutely terrific ability to flip your hips. Are you able to watch on film what you do right and appreciate it?

A: Sometimes. I kinda watch my film but sometimes when my mom's with me and she wants to watch it. But I don't really watch my film a lot...in practice, at home in the basement sometimes. I work on flipping my hips a lot. Our DB coach says, If you wanna be a great DB you gotta have fast, quick hips. We pride ourselves a lot on the DB at our school opening your hips. Opening your hips. If you have great hips you can open up faster. If you've got bad hips you're gonna get beat a lot. We do a lot of opening the hip drills, so my film...when I do watch it...I do kinda open my hips a lot. That's basically just from practice every day.

Q: What's your opinion of Coach Narduzzi?

A: I talked to Coach Narduzzi for a little while. He said he likes me... because he said, You have a knack for the ball. You open your hips very good. When I talked to Coach Narduzzi he said either/or...corner or safety. We haven't evaluated you because we don't know how big you're gonna get. My relationship with Coach Narduzzi is good. When I told him I committed, I think he was the second person, second or third...I was on my way to Coach Dantonio. I told Coach Barnett first, and then I told Coach Narduzzi, then I told Coach Dantonio. Coach Narduzzi was fired up. They're ready to get me. I was number 1 on their defense chart. When they got me he was excited. He gave me a hug. He was like, Man congratulations. Thank you. So I can't wait to get up there with Coach Narduzzi. I like him. When they were warming people up he was real...he was fired up. I like that. It's kinda like our coaches...our coaches are just fired up. They love football. They're fired up. I love Coach Narduzzi.

Q: What were your thoughts on Michigan State's campus and football facilities?

A: When I first pulled up I was like, Wow. That's the stadium? That's the stadium? They've got a pool in front of their stadium? I'm like wow. We went to the wrong facility at first, the people told us the facility was down the street. So we went down the street. As soon as I walked in I seen, wow, all the trophies, all the history, the legacy. From Plaxico Burress, to the Bullough family, the linebackers. I'm like, Wow. From the 30's to present day. I'm like, Wow, that's crazy. I've been to a lot of colleges, I've been to Ohio State and Woody Hayes and when I seen that I was like, Wow. People were telling me about Michigan State, You need to go up there and see what it looks like. But when I actually seen it with my own eyes... Our tour guide took us up into the Press Box, watching the field... Wow. He took me around campus. This is great. This fits me. I like the people. They didn't even know me but they had respect, How you doing? They were just telling me about Michigan State, how it is, how the people are in East Lansing, everything. So when I visited it was eye opening. I was like, Wow. That's kinda what blew me away. Like I said, the relationship I have with the coaching staff, the relationship that I've built with the commits, that's already committed there...Chris Frey, Chris Durkin, Brian, a lot of people. After Jalen committed I talked to him on Twitter. Like I said, It was kinda eye opening. That they had that much there.That's what kinda opened my eyes.

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