LANSING - Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio filled one vacancy on his staff and it's a familiar name.

Paul Haynes, a former Michigan State assistant and most recently the head coach at Kent State, was hired Friday as the Spartans' new secondary coach. He replaces Harlon Barnett, who served as Michigan State's co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach before leaving this month to become the new defensive coordinator at Florida State.

"I'm very, very excited about Paul," Dantonio said Friday after speaking at the Lansing Center during the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association's annual meeting. "He's coached here before, so he's got a Spartan background. He's been a secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, coached on the highest level in the secondary. He's been a head coach and I think that gives him a big-picture feel. I think he's an excellent recruiter. ... I think he's a dynamic person as well."

With Barnett gone, Mike Tressel was promoted from co-defensive coordinator to the solo defensive coordinator.

"We've had co-defensive coordinators before because I think that's what was warranted and I think they deserve that," Dantonio said. "Mike's done a tremendous job just as Harlon had. I think he'll do an outstanding job. He's been deeply, deeply involved in every aspect."

Tressel has been coaching with Dantonio for the last 14 years - three at Cincinnati and the last 11 at Michigan State. He will remain the team's linebackers coach.

"I think he's too good of a coach not to have him coaching our linebackers," Dantonio said.

Haynes, 48, began his college coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green and was Michigan State's secondary coach from 2003-04 before moving on to take the same position at Ohio State from 2005-10 and was the Buckeyes' co-defensive coordinator in 2011. He was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Arkansas in 2012 and head coach at Kent State for five seasons before being fired in November after posting an overall record of 14-45.

"He's coached NFL players at a high level, all-conference players, he's been a head coach, so he's had to deal with things, have a deep understanding of all things that can befall coaches and players and things of that nature," Dantonio said. "I just think we're very, very fortunate to have him on our staff. Great person."

Dantonio still has two vacancies to fill on his staff - one from the departure of defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator Mark Snyder to Florida State and the other from the NCAA's approval of a 10th assistant coach, starting this year.

"We're in the process on that and they're going to come one at a time. ... I'm kind of hoping I get it done by mid-week," Dantonio said. "I'd like for them to be out on the recruiting trail for at least two weeks or one week to just sort of have a chance to introduce themselves ... to the high schools. We're trying, but we want to make good decisions."

While the departures of Barnett and Snyder didn't come until this month, Dantonio has had time to contemplate how he wants to deploy a 10th assistant and the duties will vary.

"I think that guy's going to be a special teams assistant, he's going to be a defensive back assistant," he said. "I want him to be the head coach of our freshmen and I want him to be a conduit to our offense in some regards."