Everything Mississippi State defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler said Tuesday

In less than two days, Mississippi State will hold its first preseason football practices. It'll be the first time the Bulldogs, both new and returning, that will be on the 2025 team will all be on the field for the first time.

Ahead of Thursday's first practice, several Mississippi State assistant coaches spoke with media members, including defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler. Here's everything he said:

Coach, just uh now that you had a chance to look at spring and go through the summer, what talking to guys, what's your outlook on the defense this year?

Very excited. You know, obviously excited about the additions we were able to make in January and through the recruiting cycle, both portal and high school. Get those 15 practices in spring ball. You get a feel for where you're at, what you have. We got a ton of improvement to make through fall camp, but very excited.

You obviously had a ton of changeover and you guys brought in a lot of depth at different positions, but what's the biggest difference you think in this defense this year as opposed to last year and what you saw?

I think it starts up front. In this league and really just in the game of football in general, you've got to be able to win up front. I say it all the time. People say big people beat up little people and it starts with your D-line. So, we were able to add a ton of depth and a ton of great pieces on the interior as well as edge players and pass rushers, and so excited about that.

Defense last season. What were some of the things you noticed that caused some of the issues you guys had defensively?

We talk a lot about effort, technique, and execution. Those are our three core values for us as a defense. I was proud of our effort throughout most of the year. You look at from game one to game 12, our effort never wavered and to be able to do that through a tough season says a lot about our players — their identity, what they believe in. The technique and the execution is where we got to make those improvements. That’s been our focus through the offseason. You look at the offseason as a chance to reflect on the season before and attack the things you need to attack. Really, the technique and execution were the big part.

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Off the field, you guys brought in Coach McIntyre and Coach Roads. How do they kind of factor into your operation now?

Great resources for me. Former head coaches, former defensive coordinators, great minds in the game of football, been doing it a long time. For me, they've been great resources to lean on, as well as our staff and our players in general. They're able to coach the players and interact throughout all three levels, and so they've been a huge addition.

The addition of Coach Dancy — you were talking about the defensive line. How he and Coach Turner, what have they changed up front working together now?

Yeah, I mean the way we've split it, Coach Dancy has the defensive ends and the Jack, the outside linebacker, for us, and Coach Turner has the interior guys. They work well together. Coach Dancy has been a great addition. Done a great job with our players. Had a great spring, saw great improvement from a lot of guys who were going to need to take a big step forward this fall and saw a jump in our pass rush and the production there through the spring. Excited to get Coach Dancy back home in Mississippi and for him to be a part of our staff.

You've been coaching for a long time, but this is your second year being the full-time defensive coordinator. Is there anything personally you feel more confident in going into this season as opposed to last?

Yeah, I mean, you learn every year that you do this. When you look at from one year to the next, you evaluate what you did well, what your struggles were. You're constantly learning and in a constant state of hunger to learn and to improve. Definitely things that I took away. Definitely things that our defense and our players are excited to improve on from last year.

Is there anything that changes for y'all defensively this year, specifically maybe up front? Do y'all plan on using more four-down linemen or what's that alignment look like?

Yeah, I think that we have the ability with our Jack outside linebackers — Brandon Jennings, Malik Sila — the guys that we've added, to be able to play both three down and four down. We're going to continue to do that. If you sit in one front all year long, you're a sitting duck. We’ve got to be able to change the front up, both on the offensive line, on the quarterback, and change the picture. So, we’re going to continue to be multiple.

Just our spring observations there — looked like defense is a little faster than last year. Not taking away from the guys you had last year, but the speed seemed to be up. Is that physical or just more knowledge of the system?

I think it's growth through everything. You grow through the additions we made in the portal. You grow through another winter conditioning and summer conditioning, and another season with Coach Shod and his staff down in the weight room. It’s hard to say one thing. But we've gotten bigger and gotten faster, like you said.

Pass rush was a real issue last year. You went out in the portal and kind of addressed that. Based on your own spring observations, how do you feel about the progress in that respect?

Very excited. Very excited about our ability to get to the quarterback, to affect the quarterback. We brought in several guys like you mentioned that have those natural skill sets — both on the edges at defensive end and Jack linebacker, but also interior rushers. All four guys, when rushing the quarterback, got to work together. We can create pressure from both inside and outside.

What's the health like on your group right now?

Health is good. I'm excited. We feel like we're in a really good spot. Hopefully stay that way, and that's huge in fall camp and as you're building up to the season. But really excited about it.

You're fortunate to have a lot of older players and some depth at those positions, but is there an opportunity for some of those younger guys that have really kind of stood out to you to get on the field early? Some of the freshmen maybe?

Yeah. I’ve told freshmen everywhere I’ve been: if you can help us win, you're going to play. I don't care how old you are or how young you are — if you have the ability and show that ability through practice and scrimmages and all those things to help us win football games, why wouldn't I play you? Age is really just a number. If a guy continues to show from spring ball to now — or a guy that even got here in the summer — that he can help us win, we're going to put him in a position to do so.

Anybody that's impressed you so far in that regard, some of those freshmen?

No, I mean, the guys that came in midyear — that's a great head start for them. The opportunity to come in and get winter workouts and get 15 practices under your belt, get the install, get all those things — that puts you in a position that sets you up to have a chance. The guys that got here this summer — we'll see how they do. They had a great summer.

How do they take on all the things when you start putting the pads on and installing and all that? Going back through our spring interviews and summer interviews with guys, one of the constant themes they said you stress to them is "we can't go 2–10 again." Is that what you've been pushing with the guys?

The offseason is a time — through winter, through spring — to reflect on the season before. The message today, as we come in and going forward, is all about going forward. We're not looking back. We did that. We evaluated what the good and the bad was from a year ago. We've made the corrections we need to make — both as coaches, as players, as a roster, the whole thing. Now it's about 2025, and it's about going forward. That's our mindset, and that'll be our attitude.

Some of the guys you think will have big impacts in terms of the pass rush this season?

Yeah, I mean, there’s several names. There are guys returning — Brandon Jennings and Deontae Anderson. But then you look at the guys we added with the Silas brothers, Nav Sanders, Jay on the inside, Jay Bledsoe — there’s guys in red, Hler to the field, Will Witson. There’s a lot of names, man. And that's a good thing. Excited to see who goes out and earns the starting jobs, but also with that depth, how we can roll guys in and, like you said, affect the quarterback.

How tempting is it to just almost overwork Isaac Smith because he can do so many things out there?

Yeah, I mean, he's a workhorse, right? He loves it. Loves the game, plays the game the right way, practices the game the right way. We have to be smart in terms of his workload and his capacity because he's not going to stop. That’s on us — that’s on me. He’s also a year older and mature and knows how to communicate when maybe he's sore or something's going on. So, excited for him going forward here and the season he's going to have.

We've seen Stonka Burnside make the swap to defense. How much were you and the defensive staff aware of his ability and his production in high school?

Yeah, I mean, I recruited Stonka out of high school at another place. I've told Stonka since day one that he's born to be on the defensive side of the ball. Even last year when he was playing wideout, but he was running down on punt and making every tackle for us on special teams. He’s got a bright future. He's done a great job in making the transition. It's an unselfish thing for someone to do that, right? Look forward to a great camp from him to take another step forward toward helping us play good defense.

I asked you about the younger guys, and Tyler Lockhart was kind of the headliner of that class last year. We all know about the recruitment that he had and all, but from terms of him just picking up what you're putting down right now, what have you seen from him in the spring and summer so far?

Yeah, he had a great spring. Really, when you look at his spring, he got better and better every practice. Went out and had a really good spring game and had a good scrimmage before that toward the end. More and more comfort by him just in the system and in the scheme and the things we're asking him to do — a little different from what he did at Winona. So, excited about his future. What that future looks like — the immediate playing time and all that — that’s up to him and his ability to show it not only to me but to his teammates.