EAST LANSING– With the off-season heading into April, the new era for the Green and White made its public debut at Spartan Stadium. The first glimpses of 2026 Michigan State football were unveiled Saturday afternoon, coinciding with the end of spring practices, in its annual spring showcase event.
“The way that our guys have come together, really starting to forge a brotherhood which is them giving up themselves for the greater good of the team,” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “To see that growth as a group has been outstanding.”
This was no ordinary spring ball session for the Spartans, though, as a regime change led by Fitzgerald is working to establish a new culture, tone, and attitude in East Lansing.
“I just couldn’t be more excited for the future of Michigan State football, as I alluded to when I first got here, toughness was born here and we’re working our tails off to establish that,” Fitzgerald said. “Early practices, kicking things off at 6:20 in the morning, we had guys that ended up being in the building at 4:50, 4:30 to get warmed up, get ready to go. We pushed them hard in every aspect of everything we’ve done since we’ve started and the guys have responded.”
Following a quick warm up period, where junior punter and Iowa transfer Rhys Dakin booted multiple 60-plus yard kicks, the team ran an 11 on 11 scrimmage without live tackling. This was in a concentrated effort to keep players healthy but Fitzgerald remains adamant about the importance of physicality.
“We had a number of guys who were banged up, either o-line wise or just some other guys, bumps and bruises that we weren’t necessarily gonna go tackle live in scrimmage situations,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been grinding for 15 practices. We wanted to walk off healthy, we walked out of today healthy 100%… Joe Rossi and Joel Welsh moving forward in the summer with the strength program we will work the fundamentals of tackling everyday that we’re together.”
The showcase also featured probable starters and depth pieces on both sides of the ball. While seeing all kinds of personnel from throughout the depth chart is not uncommon this time of year, Fitzgerald stressed the program’s new competitive nature within positional battles.
“I reserve the right to play the best 11 players on every single snap, I don’t care how old you are, where you’re from, none of that matters,” Fitzgerald said. “I want every guy walking out of here feeling like they can be a starter.”
Sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, now the full-time field general with perhaps the safest job on the team, showed poise since becoming a leader of the program. Improved pocket awareness could be key in the upcoming season, as Milivojevic often caught the brunt of defensive pass rushes last year. He showed flashes of mobility in moments where he needed it. He also looked sharp in the passing game when given the opportunity to stand strong in the pocket.
“We evaluated his [Milivojevic’s] tape, we looked at where we saw him for those games that he was able to play in last year, and in our eye with the wisdom and experience we have to project, we went all in to have him be our starting quarterback,” Fitzgerald said. “Less is our starter and we’re excited that he is and we’re looking forward to him leading the program. He’s done a terrific job from a leadership standpoint.”
The connection with senior wide receiver Chrishon McCray, who revoked his name from the transfer portal in January, still looked strong and could be a massive jolt for the offense. A link between Milivojevic and sixth year wide receiver Rodney Bullard Jr. seems to be developing as well with some easy pitch and catch being put on display. However, there is still a question of if Bullard Jr. will be rostered for the upcoming season as he awaits an NCAA decision on his eligibility waiver.
While the Spartans and Bullard Jr. remain on stand-by with the decision, MSU’s backfield looked fully reloaded and ready to go. Early in the day, senior running back and splashy transfer portal pick up out of UConn Cam Edwards, became a standout when running with the ones. Another transfer addition running back, sophomore Marvis Parrish from Western Kentucky, heated up later in the scrimmage with some aggressive carries.
Finally, perhaps the day’s best moment came from junior running back Kenneth Williams coming in from Nebraska. He ripped a hole on the left side wide open and streaked 67-yards down the sideline untouched for the lone offensive touchdown of the scrimmage.
“We’ve got really solid competitive depth in the running back room, that was by design,” Fitzgerald said. “A lot of guys have played well, there’s a lot of depth there and I could list every guy’s name. It’s a very competitive room, we’re gonna need that group to play well running the ball, play well in protection, play well catching the ball out of the backfield.”
This could be looked at as a testament to the defense’s effort, a group in desperate need of a bounce back season after allowing 369.7 yards per game in 2025. The secondary shined in a handful of moments courtesy of cornerbacks’ sophomore Tyran Chappell and senior Eastern Illinois transfer NiJhay Burt.
Chappell was tested in one on one balls and passed with flying colors with some nice knockaways. Burt also intercepted Milivojevic by not allowing any separation on the target and securing an underthrown ball. The defensive line also got solid pressure in multiple instances, including a sack credited to redshirt freshman defensive linemen Derrick Simmons.
“Kind of goes back to what I alluded to earlier about competitive depth, I think we’ve got a lot of great depth there [secondary],” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve put together a plan as we went into the portal, and I’ve said it now multiple times, to add competitive depth and to me that’s an area where we hit a lot of home runs and a lot of talent back there on the back end.”
The Spartans will walk away from spring ball and prepare for a return to practice in the summer. In the meantime, Fitzgerald has an outlined plan for his squad and key dates marked on the calendar.
“Just so we’re all scoring at home we start at 110 days, we’ll be back in Spartan Stadium to take on the opener at 141, and we go down the road to take on Michigan in 203 days,” Fitzgerald said. “So those things are all top of mind with me, with our coaches, with our program and so that’s what’s coming up next for us is this next step here in the third quarter.”
MSU opens the 2026 campaign against Toledo on Saturday, September 5, with kickoff TBA.
