As much as they suck, they've had consistently good defenses the last few years. If you can have a good defense there, you can sure have one at MSU.</p>
I'd like to see either Tenuta from ND considered or Koennig from K-State, who was the d-coordinator at Clemson the last few years. Both have recruiting connections in the south and are good coaches.
He is currently Arizona State dc which finished 12th in total defense this season. He has coached under some big name guys such as nick saban and butch davis. He coached at florida for 1 season under zook. I'm not sure if he would be willing to make the move or not but should be worth a thought.