Experienced tackles hope to lead way for defense

BOISE — There won’t be a lot of inexperience in the defensive trenches for the Boise State football team this season, particularly when it comes to the interior line.

The Broncos return four defensive tackles who are all upperclassmen, and all played a significant role on a defense which last year ranked Top 40 in the nation in rushing defense, sacks and tackles for a loss.

And as the Broncos get ready for the 2024 season, they believe they can improve upon that.

“It’s been really cool this summer to see how far we’ve been able to take a step looking at things holistically from a defensive standpoint,” said sixth-year senior Michael Callahan. “Last year we were really good at our jobs. We were very efficient against the run, and we had production at times. But now we’re having a better understanding of what’s going on with the entire defense, how we fit into certain things and why things are the way they are.”

Callahan, seniors Herbert Gums and Sheldon Newton and junior Braxton Fely make up a formidable group of defensive tackles, who combined have been at Boise State for 12 years and have 130 tackles in their Bronco careers, including six sacks and 16 tackles for a loss.

“Everybody knows what to do, everybody knows how to play with each other,” Gums said. “It’s a really good core for us, everybody’s got good experience.”

It’s likely one of the best scenarios that defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, who also serves as defensive line coach, can ask for when it comes to the defensive front. With players like preseason Co-Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Ahmed Hassanein on one end of the defensive line and options like Jayden Virgin-Morgan and Ball State transfer Tavion Woodard likely at the other end and a strong group of linebackers, the defensive tackles will be tasked with starting the battle up front, paving the way for the rest of the defense.

With their experience, the Broncos don’t think they can go wrong with any choice they make in who to put into those two tackle spots.

“With those four guys, with that experience, I don’t really care who walks out there first,” said Chinander. “I know they probably do, but those guys are going to basically play even reps. They got to rotate, because the best defensive lines I’ve ever been around have been able to rotate. Two guys can’t just take the workload by themselves. So, it’s very exciting to have fresh guys, fresh guys, fresh guys and it shouldn’t drop out at all.”

And the players themselves also realize that being able to rotate will give the defense a huge advantage.

“It’s absolutely massive,” Callahan said. “You look at these O-lines you play in conference, they’re not rotating. They’re on the field the entire game. You have four easily starter capability players, who could all be all-conference players, and you split all the reps equally, you got players who are fresh and are healthy and ready to fly around the field. I think that’s why our position group makes such an impact in games.”

And the rotation might not stop with those four, either. The Broncos will be looking to build some depth at tackle this season, with both Callahan and Gums raving about the work that redshirt freshman Michael Madrie has been putting in this fall.

“He sat out last year, but he watched us every game,” Gums said about Madrie. “Every time he has his name called, he’s ready to get out and learn. He’s going to be a good part for this defense.”

Names like Spencer Gieg, Borah High graduate Trevor McKenna and true freshman Lopez Sanusi were all mentioned by teammates as players who could break out this season at the tackle spot, giving the group some much-desired depth.

“It’s really important to develop depth, especially at our position,” said Callahan. “Last year we got through all 14 games with four D-Tackles, the likelihood of that happening is really small. If you look around the rest of the country, you had a lot of guys go down. So, we need to have everybody ready.”