William Peagler the Right Fit at Michigan State

William Peagler’s experience makes him the exact right fit at Michigan State on Mel Tucker’s staff.

East Lansing, Mich—When the dust settled from Mel Tucker hiring his first staff at Michigan State leading the football program, perhaps the least known name was William Peagler. Hired to lead the running backs Peagler’s name might not have been known, but inside college football he was seen as a rising star.

 

So how can such a young coach have such vast experience? “It’s so many different things. I think in any profession, as you are growing in the profession, you take little things that you learn here and there and you kind of apply them to what works best for you,” Peagler says. “I’ve been so fortunate; I didn’t play college football, but I was a student assistant at Clemson for four years. I was a GA at UL-Lafayette with Mitch Rodrigue, I coached tight ends at Valdosta State. I got to learn from Kirby Smart, Tracy Claeys when I was at Minnesota and different people.”

 

Young in age, Peagler showed his teachable spirit and maturity, “I think you take different pieces from each of those coaches and apply it to your career. I think ultimately, that kind of shapes who you are as a coach, learning from all those people, because no one is going to be successful unless they are around the right type of people and I feel like I have been around the right type of people and have learned little things from each, and that’s kind of turned me into what I am now.”

 

Is there any one specific lesson that stands out above others to Peagler? “I think the ultimate thing that I’ve learned in this profession is you always have to be ready when your opportunity comes and I think part of why I’m sitting here right now is because I was ready when my opportunity came at Colorado and I proved to Coach Tucker that I was ready.”

The Spartans kick off the season on September 5, 2020. They will be hosting in the Northwestern Wildcats with a rare, season-opening Big Ten game.

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