Feb. 8, 2010

Each day this week, msuspartans.com will take a look at one of the four early enrollees of the 2010 recruiting class: Le'Veon Bell, Joe Boisture, Max Bullough and Nick Hill. Today Max Bullough is featured.

Max Bullough's Profile | Bullough's Highlights

From Hank in the 1950s to Shane and Chuck in the 80s, the Bullough name has been synonymous with Michigan State football for some time. The next chapter in the Bullough legacy at MSU is Max, son of Shane and grandson of Hank.

One of the top middle linebacker prospects in the nation - as high as No. 4 by Scouts, Inc. - Max led St. Francis High School in Traverse City, Mich., to back-to-back Division 7 state championships in 2008-09. He was a menace on defense, recording 137 tackles, four sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick in his senior year alone. But that wasn't all. On offense, he accounted for 11 touchdowns as a fullback and tight end.

Max will be focusing his efforts at linebacker during his playing career at Michigan State, just like his dad and also his uncle, Chuck. Max's father, Shane, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1986 and his 156 tackles as a junior in 1985 still rank sixth-most in the MSU single-season records. Chuck, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 1991, still holds the Spartan single-season record with 175 tackles that season.

At Michigan State's signing day press conference Feb. 3, Max took some time to meet with the media and talked about his decision to attend MSU, his thoughts on the 2010 recruiting class, and his goals for the upcoming season.

On how signing day has affected him...
Today is a really big day. It was probably a little bigger when I moved into the dorms a couple of weeks ago, but it's really a big day for my family, my grandpas, my uncles, my mom, everybody, it's been awesome.

On how hard it will be to learn his position...
I think it will be a big learning curve. I have started a little bit on my own because the coaches have been out recruiting, so I have only had a little bit of time with Coach Tressel. But now he is back and we have some time set up. I have been learning it the past couple of months with film, but that is hard to do by yourself. But with Coach Tressel and a couple other guys like Chris (Norman) being here, I'm learning it faster. I will be ready.

On how his class will be...
Like Coach D says, defense is as big of a part of the game as offense is. We really think that defense is a huge part of the game. (Mylan) Hicks, (Isaiah) Lewis and (William) Gholston are good players and good friends of mine now.

On his contact with his class...
It was kind of crazy at the beginning because everyone was going off to different camps. But when we get together, we talk about the team a lot and how excited we are to play defense as Spartans. We know each other pretty well.

On his goals before the season starts...
I am trying to get in here, make an impact and work my butt off. I want to learn it all and spring season will help me a lot because you take everything step-by-step. In the fall you get everything thrown at you in the first week of camp. I'm just trying to get in there, do the best I can and see what happens.

On how preparing has been going so far...
It has been awesome to this point. Workouts have been going great and school has been going well so far. It was a quick transition, Friday high school and Monday college, so it was tough in the beginning but now I'm getting the hang of it.

On why he chose Michigan State...
My first offer was from Michigan State and then I went around to a couple other schools, just to check them out. I was only a sophomore so I had some time, but when I thought about it I knew I was going to play in Green and White.