MSU defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III's journey to coaching almost never began
Michigan State DL coach Winston DeLattiboudere III did not want to coach, at first. Now he is one of the most energetic coaches on every staff he works for.
Michigan State’s newly-hired defensive line coach, Winston DeLattiboudere III, is energized and ecstatic to be coaching in East Lansing.
Hired in January of 2026 by new head coach Pat Fitzgerald, DeLattiboudere did not always have heart and drive in coaching. He wanted to continue to play the game at a high level for years to come.
After his college career at Minnesota from 2015 to 2019 — where he played under current MSU defensive coordinator Joe Rossi — DeLattiboudere had one goal, which was to make it to the NFL.
Coaching was not a real option for him until he began to feel called by God to become a coach.
“I did not want to be a coach,” DeLattiboudere said on Tuesday. “I’m very heavy into Christianity, that’s my religion. It's deep(ly) embedded into my heart and I just felt like God was pulling me toward coaching.”
DeLattiboudere finally made the decision to pursue coaching after some persuasion from a mentor. He called Rossi to try to find an opportunity, but was met with some pushback as Rossi wanted to assure that this was the path DeLattiboudere truly wanted to go down.
