Pat Fitzgerald Drops Details on Upcoming MSU Spring Showcase

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State football is looking to put the finishing touches on a successful spring.

The Spartans are now 13 practices in. MSU's penultimate practice is Thursday morning, and it'll wrap things up on Saturday during its "Spring Showcase" at Spartan Stadium. Gates to the stadium open at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, and the event starts at noon and runs until 2 p.m. There is also an autograph session for fans shortly after the showcase's conclusion. Free tickets are available online.

What Fitzgerald Says Will Happen

Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald instructs players during spring football practice on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, the event isn't actually an official spring "game," but there will be plenty of game-speed action for Michigan State fans to observe. Pat Fitzgerald estimates that about 75 plays' worth of "move the ball" scrimmaging will happen.

"I think from a health and safety standpoint, with our depth right now, I think that's a good number," Fitzgerald said Tuesday. "So it won't feel like a game, and that's why I wanted to call it a showcase. I assumed we'd kind of be at this position. We want to maximize the practice opportunity, have fun with our fans, but most importantly, keep our players healthy and safe."

April 14, 2026; East Lansing, Mich.; Michigan State Spartans head coach Pat Fitzgerald speaks following a spring practice at the Skandalaris Football Center. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Learning Spartan Stadium

There are some other aspects of a real game that the team will go through the motions of, though. Fitzgerald says the team will time some warmups and determine when to go on and off the field to simulate how things go down during real games.

It's really to help everyone get used to what playing in Spartan Stadium is like. A sizable chunk of the roster and the coaching staff haven't played a game in there before. Fitzgerald, from his time as a player and coach at Northwestern, was actually one of the more familiar coaches with the inner workings of the building. That lack of knowledge showed up a bit during the team's scrimmaging this past Saturday.

"Most of our coaches had never been to the coaches' locker room," Fitzgerald said. "You may think that's not a big deal, but we had no idea where [to go]. I knew where to go, but the coaches didn't know where to go."

"[We need to know] how we go about taking the field in pregame warm-up, where we go, where our areas are, what the timing is. So we wanted to get two shots at that last Saturday and then this Saturday, just to get a sense and a feel for the building, for the nuance of what Spartan Stadium means in our pregame warm-up."

Full Pat Fitzgerald Press Conference

Add us as a preferred source on Google