3 Takeaways From MSU's Appearance at Big Ten Media Days
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CHICAGO, IL. -- The start of fall camp is now officially one week away.
Michigan State made its appearance at Big Ten Football Media Days on Wednesday, bringing along head coach Pat Fitzgerald, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, linebacker Jordan Hall, and safety Nikai Martinez. These are a few things that stood out from what the Spartans said:
Big Offensive Line Competition
One interesting thing Fitzgerald said is the number of players he says are contending for the team's five starting offensive line spots. He has the number of contenders up to "10 or 11" before the official start of training camp.
Fitzgerald didn't necessarily define what "competing" meant for a starting role, but the size of the number is still certainly interesting. That's especially true because four names on the offensive line feel pretty solid at the moment. Returnee Conner Moore, UConn transfer Ben Murawski, South Carolina transfer Nick Sharpe, and North Dakota State transfer Trent Fraley should all be starters this year. Fitzgerald even went out and officially named Fraley as the team's starting center.
That fifth spot may revolve around the recovery of Luka Vincic, who was on track to be the Spartans' starting right guard last season. He suffered a lower-body injury in Week 3 last season that kept him out for the rest of the season, and he didn't participate during the live portion of MSU's open scrimmage/spring game in April. Fitzgerald says that Vincic's availability for the Week 1 game against Toledo is still to be determined.
Where players are specifically put on the field will also be interesting. Murawski and Fraley will be at left tackle and center, but Sharpe can play either guard position, and Moore, who played mostly right tackle last year, was also getting reps at guard during the spring. Rakeem Johnson and Robert Wright Jr. are two names to know who would perhaps fill in for Moore at right tackle.
New Uniform Tradition, Dorms for Fall Camp
Fitzgerald is also bringing over a tradition he had at Northwestern, where the No. 1 jersey isn't claimed by one or two players. The team's Unity Council will nominate some players during fall camp, and then the team will vote on who gets to wear the uniform that is meant to single out "The Spartan."
"He's the one that embodies our values, the work ethic, the commitment, the giving of himself for the greater good of his teammates better than anybody else," Fitzgerald said about what "The Spartan" should be.
Players also won't be able to return to the apartments or houses they received with their NIL money very often in the coming weeks. Fitzgerald said players will be living in Case Hall throughout fall camp. It's a point of both convenience, as Case is literally across the street from the football facility, and also a way to promote team bonding with meals being held there every day, too.
Fitzgerald noted that players will have air conditioning units in their rooms, joking that he's getting soft. The change to the dorms does feel a little unusual in this era, when top players make millions of dollars, but it does feel necessary with so many new faces in the building.
Toughness, Dantonio Era Still Remain the 'Model'
Fitzgerald is also not shying away from the era he hopes to emulate as Michigan State's head coach. He said that his expectation this year is the Big Ten title, and he's going to try to do things the way Mark Dantonio did things while he was at MSU.
"Coach D is a modern model of what our program should look like," Fitzgerald said. "I think we're all kind of cut from the same cloth. We're built-from-the-inside-out, line-of-scrimmage teams. I said it, I mean it, like, when I was playing and then coaching against Mark's teams, there was no doubt who the toughest team in the Big Ten was, and that was Michigan State, and we've let that slip through our fingers, and now we've got to go snatch it back."
Dantonio won three Big Ten titles (2010, 2013, 2015) during his time at MSU and was certainly the architect of what is the "golden age" for the Spartans' football program during the modern era of college football. The sport has changed a lot since Dantonio retired, but Fitzgerald thinks he can use Dantonio's methods to bring Michigan State back.
"Our football program should be winning," Fitzgerald said. "We should be winning championships. We have every resource. We have got a good fan base; we have one of the best fan bases in all of sport, and they want us to be there, and they are going to be there to support us."
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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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