One Key Factor Shaping Michigan State Football's 2026 Season
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College football rebuilds are much different than they used to be.
In the past, plenty of coaches would be given a several-year semi-grace period to get "their guys" onto the roster via high school recruiting. Michigan State firing Jonathan Smith just two years into a seven-year contract shows that's anything but the case now. Pat Fitzgerald will be asked for results immediately, but one simple thing about his roster indicates that could be on the horizon: age.
MSU's 'Old' Roster
The Spartans actually have the 15th-oldest roster in the FBS (out of 138) this coming season, according to an article published by RotoWire last week. The average age of someone on MSU's roster in 2026 is 20.64 years old, a little older than the FBS average of 20.32.
This actually makes Michigan State the "oldest" team in the entire Big Ten. UCLA, another program with a new head coach, is the second-oldest in the conference at 27th overall, with an average age of 20.52 years. The other two teams in the conference with new coaches, Penn State and Michigan, are fifth and 11th, respectively.
Programs breaking in new coaches used to have a youth movement, basically looking more towards three or four seasons down the line. The transfer portal has proven that program turnarounds can be much more instantaneous.
Curt Cignetti is going to give fans headaches for eternity after he turned perpetual doormat Indiana into a playoff team in one season and a national champion in two. MSU surely doesn't feel great about not seriously considering him in that exact same hiring cycle. Cignetti's run at IU will probably never be duplicated, but he's proven that using the portal properly is pretty much as important as high school recruiting these days.
Fitzgerald has made it clear that he's going to prioritize high school recruiting during his tenure in East Lansing, but he recognized that he needed to heavily utilize the portal to be competitive this fall. Michigan State has 32 new players coming in from the transfer portal alone this season, largely out of necessity after 45 players left.
Transfers, of course, will tend to be on the older side. 24 of the Spartans' incoming transfers are starting their fourth season of college football or later. Most college seniors are either 21 or 22, but plenty of those transfers are either fifth- or sixth-year seniors as well. Once the fall roster is finalized, MSU will have about 45 players entering their fourth seasons or later. That's roughly 40% of the roster that, by my count, totals 112 players.
What It Could Mean
The big takeaway here is that MSU could have a bit of a hidden experience factor. "Returning production" used to be a big offseason stat for teams, but it doesn't mean much when a team losing its top running back can find somebody as good or better from another school, rather than leave its development of the internal replacement to chance.
Michigan State's offensive line is the best example of this. The Spartans' o-line last year was... subpar, to put it nicely. MSU allowed 37 sacks last year, and it would've been more had Aidan Chiles not oftentimes bailed the unit out with his legs. Michigan State is "losing" four of its starters from last year -- two to the exhaustion of their eligibility, and two to the portal.
The new projected starting five will be entirely comprised of players who are either fifth- or sixth-year seniors. Three projected starters (Ben Murawski, Nick Sharpe, Trent Fraley) were somewhere else last season. One (Luka Vincic) seemed set to start last year, but missed nearly the whole fall with an early-season injury. Conner Moore is the only returning starter.
MSU's top running back is a fifth-year senior. Its top receiver is a fifth-year senior. Its top two defensive linemen are fifth- and fourth-year players. Its three best linebackers are all seniors. Its top two corners are sixth- and fifth-year guys. Its best safety is a fifth-year senior. The top of the depth chart for the Spartans is nearly entirely filled with upperclassmen and players on the back half of their eligibility.
It almost feels ironic that Alessio Milivojevic, a redshirt sophomore, is going to be the starting quarterback, while his backup, Cam Fancher, is a sixth-year senior.
This season probably isn't the one when Michigan State returns to the form fans are expecting or hoping for. Having an older roster doesn't necessarily correlate with winning. Georgia actually has college football's youngest roster. Ohio State and Indiana have the second-youngest and the fourth-youngest rosters in the Big Ten.
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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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