{"id":6974,"date":"2026-08-16T13:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6974"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:37:08","slug":"san-jose-state-has-remade-defense-after-major-struggles-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6974","title":{"rendered":"San Jose State has remade defense after major struggles in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With San Jose State\u2019s training camp underway, its defense looks to rebound from a season in which the Spartans ranked 115th nationally in passing defense.<\/p>\n

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The Spartans\u2019 offseason was aimed at addressing those defensive woes, adding new coaches, players and schemes.<\/p>\n

SJSU hired first-year defensive coordinator Bojay Filimoeatu following a two-game interim stint at the end of last season, after associate head coach and ninth-year coordinator Derrick Odum was fired late in the season.<\/p>\n

Coach Ken Niumatalolo built a veteran staff of assistants under Filimoeatu, adding defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Brian Norwood along with safeties coach Joe Dale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love our coaches. I\u2019m biased towards Brian Norwood \u2013 he\u2019s my best friend. I also think he\u2019s the best secondary coach in the country,\u201d Niumatalolo said. \u201cJoe Dale\u2019s done a really good job adding stuff in the back end; smart coach that\u2019s been a defensive coordinator. He works well with the young men, and Bojay is doing an awesome job with the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norwood has made stops at UCLA, TCU and Kansas State and now looks to rebuild SJSU\u2019s secondary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through two cornerbacks coaches, both great guys, but every new coach brings their own techniques and knowledge of the game,\u201d senior cornerback Caleb Womack said. \u201cI feel like coach Norwood has an abundance of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norwood has brought new techniques and schemes for the SJSU secondary to learn.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith guys that haven\u2019t played a lot, they\u2019re open to hearing and taking coaching,\u201d Norwood said. \u201cThey\u2019ve really accepted the coaching and everything we\u2019re doing, trying things that may have been different than the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spartans\u2019 cornerback room is undergoing a reset, with just four returners who have limited starting experience and welcoming five transfers to the group, making for a crucial competition at camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Bojay and the coaches that were here did a great job giving me information but also understanding I got to see things skill-set-wise,\u201d Norwood said.<\/p>\n

SJSU notably signed Isaiah Buxton, who was largely a backup last year as a redshirt freshman at San Diego State as the Aztecs ranked atop the Mountain West in points allowed and opponent completion percentage. Buxton was a high three-star recruit out of Chula Vista in the class of 2024.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the corner spot, a lot of guys are working hard for playing time: Kejuan Bullard, Womack, Runye Norton, Greco Carrillo, Francois Jones, Jr, who we just added and Jayden Robertson,\u201d Niumatalolo said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of depth back there and we\u2019ve got (weeks) to figure out who\u2019s the best for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

SJSU\u2019s refurbished secondary extends to the safety room, where the Spartans have one returner in Charles Cox along with Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa, who spent last year as a wide receiver for the Spartans.<\/p>\n

The Spartans recruited safeties Brian Dukes Jr., a three-year starter at Cal Poly, and Pierce Walker, who started all 12 games for Portland State last year.<\/p>\n

SJSU\u2019s defensive strong point last season was in its linebackers, but with Taniela Latu, Jordan Pollard and Noah McNeal Franklin graduating in the offseason, their replacements have big shoes to fill.<\/p>\n

Unlike other positions on the defense, SJSU has developed returners at linebacker in Ethan Powell, Naseri Danielson and Dylan Lee, all with two or more years in the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bring everything that you saw last year, we want to keep that tandem going,\u201d Powell said. \u201cWe had a lot of linebackers come through SJSU that have been great to us, so we want to keep that tradition going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up front, the Spartans\u2019 defensive line brings the most continuity on the defense, with players like Justin Stearns, Etu Finau, Solomone Langi and Noa Siaosi who played key roles on last year\u2019s front.<\/p>\n

SJSU added to this unit by recruiting Jayland McGlothen from Sacramento State and Ian Shewell, who spent the last three seasons at Arizona State.<\/p>\n

For all the new faces and new schemes, the top priority from Niumatalolo and his staff is about something else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with our head coach; he asks one thing from us, and that\u2019s to play like our hats are on fire,\u201d Filimoeatu said. \u201cWe want our players to play fast; we want them to know what to do and how to do it and execute every play like it\u2019s their last.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bojay Filimoeatu will be a coordinator for the first time, but the Spartans have veteran defensive backs coach Brian Norwood working with a transfer-heavy secondary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSan Jose State has remade defense after major struggles in 2025 - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Jose State has remade defense after major struggles in 2025 - 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