As always seems to be the case, there’s another football Bullough in East Lansing.
Michigan State announced Thursday that Mark Dantonio has hired Chuck Bullough as his defensive ends coach. Bullough played linebacker for the Spartans from 1988-91 and still holds the school’s single-season record for tackles (175). He also embarked on his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.
The past two seasons, Bullough served as the defensive line coach at Eastern Michigan.
“We’re very excited to have Chuck Bullough back at Michigan State,” said Dantonio in a statement. “He was an outstanding player here for George Perles, and the rest of his family bleeds green as well. He has a tremendous wealth of football knowledge, having played and coached in the NFL, and also coordinating at two major conference schools. He’s a front-seven coach with a very impressive resume.”
Bullough’s first job at the FBS level came at Western Michigan in 2005, followed by his first Power Five job at UCLA from 2006-10. The latter two seasons with the Bruins saw Bullough serve as defensive coordinator. He moved on to the same job at Syracuse from 2013-15.
From 1999-2003, he was an assistant with the Chicago Bears.
The Bullough family has long been a part of MSU football, from Chuck Bullough’s father Hank playing offensive line in the mid-fifties to three nephews who have or are currently playing for the Spartans. The third, Byron Bullough, is will be a fifth-year senior this coming season.
“It’s definitely been a journey,” said Bullough on his return to East Lansing. “I started under Coach Dantonio when I became a graduate assistant here (1997), then you go out into the profession and have a chance to coach at a lot of great places. Eventually, you want to come back home, and I’m very fortunate to be coming home to the same coach that I started with.”
