5 Biggest Questions Surrounding MSU Football in 2026
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Yet again, Michigan State football is setting sail with a new coach.
The Spartans moved swiftly to try to improve following a 4-8 year in 2025. Jonathan Smith was out the day after the season ended, and news broke that Pat Fitzgerald was in about two hours later. Here are the five biggest questions Fitzgerald and MSU will resolve this season?
Can Fitzgerald's Methods Work Fast in Current Era?
Hiring a coach who has spent 17 years as the head guy at a Big Ten program normally wouldn't be considered to be very experimental, but it feels like picking Fitzgerald leans in that direction. He was out of college coaching for three years after Northwestern fired him in the wake of a hazing scandal.
He became hireable again in August 2025 after he settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with NU, with the school saying that "extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing."
Fitzgerald's ugly exit from Northwestern aside, one reason I was skeptical of the hiring was his final two seasons there. The Wildcats went 3-9 in 2021, and then they dropped to 1-11 during Fitzgerald's final year in charge.
Those seasons, perhaps coincidentally, were the first two seasons college athletes were permitted to make NIL money. Fitzgerald definitely has an old-school, '90s-linebacker approach, but how well does it land with and motivate athletes who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars and are as young as 17 or 18?
What Becomes Milivojevic’s Ceiling As QB1?
Internal quarterback promotions are relatively rare these days, especially when a new coach enters the fold. Alessio Milivojevic essentially got his audition to be Michigan State's full-time starting quarterback during the final four games of 2025, and I'd say he put out an A-minus effort. He threw for nearly 1,000 yards during those games with seven touchdowns and just two picks.
Fitzgerald was actually at the third of Milivojevic's four starts at Iowa, seeing him throw for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Whether it was that game specifically or what else Fitzgerald saw on film during his opening days on the job, he saw enough to stick with Milivojevic as QB1, essentially taking off the interim tag he was operating under last November.
Who Emerges at Wide Receiver?
The biggest unknown right now, at least with the lineup, is which wide receivers the Spartans will lean on this year. Michigan State has perhaps eight or nine players at the position who should at least contend for playing time, and pretty much all of them are unproven. Chrishon McCray, Rodney Bullard Jr., and Charles Taplin seem to be the "starters" for now, but the gap between them and the next group seems to be pretty thin.
Some benefit of the doubt should go in Courtney Hawkins' direction. There's a reason he's been retained through not one, but two head coaching changes as the team's wide receivers coach. It feels like somebody should break out this season; the main mystery is who.
Can the Offensive Line Finally Hold Up?
It's also tough to see MSU's first season under Fitzgerald get off the ground if the offensive line doesn't improve. The Spartans allowed 37 sacks last year, just one shy of Rutgers for the most in the Big Ten. They also averaged the fourth-fewest yards per carry in the conference.
Milivojevic was actually the 10th-most-sacked quarterback (16 times) in the conference last year, too, despite only being the starter for four games. He's not remotely the runner that Aidan Chiles is, so he won't be able to bail out the O-line quite as much. Michigan State's starting combination should be completely different from last year, so there isn't much room to go but up (right?).
Can Pass Rush Consistently Apply Pressure?
The X-factor for MSU's defense this year will be its defensive line, more specifically, its ability to get to the opposing quarterback. Michigan State finished with 22 sacks last year, tied for the third-fewest in the Big Ten. Nobody on the team had more than 2.5 quarterback takedowns last fall.
It's not a coincidence that the Spartans' five interceptions were also among the fewest in the Big Ten. Quarterbacks had plenty of time to diagnose and dissect Michigan State's defense more often than not. The hope is that MSU's additions of rush end Kenny Soares Jr., defensive end Keahnist Thompson, and linebackers Caleb Wheatland and Dion Crawford help change that. Rush end Anelu Lafaele, defensive end Cal Thrush, and EDGE Isaac Smith are a few key retentions.
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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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