MSU Adds New, Experienced QBs Coach Days After Bajakian Departure
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Michigan State has moved quickly to fill its vacant quarterbacks coach slot.
The Spartans have hired John McNulty to be the team's new quarterbacks coach, head coach Pat Fitzgerald confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. McNulty was most recently a senior offensive assistant at Rutgers, but was also an analyst at Alabama from 2023-24, where he overlapped with new MSU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan for a season. He'll take over for Mike Bajakian, who was on the staff for about a month before taking the QBs coaching job with the Cleveland Browns.
McNulty brings a plethora of both coordinating and positional coaching experience to MSU. He's spent time at both the NFL and at power-conference football programs. Across his career, which began in the early '90s, he's been on collegiate staffs at Michigan, UConn, Rutgers, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Alabama. He's also coached for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers.
This actually appears to be the first time McNulty will be a dedicated quarterbacks coach at the college level, though. He was the sole QBs coach for multiple teams in the NFL, most notably serving as Marcus Mariota's QB coach during his rookie season with the Titans.
Task Ahead for McNulty
Priority No. 1 for McNulty now will be the development of Michigan State starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and the quarterbacks behind him. Milivojevic took over as the team's QB1 late in 2025 and remained to stick around during MSU's coaching change. The Spartans' QBs coach this past fall was Jon Boyer, who hasn't appeared to have found or taken a new job elsewhere.
McNulty should also have plenty of help on the coaching staff as well. Sheridan has plenty of experience coaching quarterbacks himself --- having done it recently at Alabama, coaching up Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson.
One of the big responsibilities as well will be the identification and recruitment of future quarterbacks. Bajakian had already been on the road a lot, talking to class of 2027 quarterbacks, and McNulty will probably have to try to build some more relationships before spring ball officially begins on St. Patrick's Day.
Salary and contract details are TBA, but chances are that McNulty will probably get a contract relatively similar to what Bajakian got, which was a deal that would have paid him $775,000 across two years. Fitzgerald got a substantial annual budget of $12.12 million for his assistant coaching staff, which has helped him get the guys he's wanted.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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