Why Milivojevic Can End Troubling Trend of MSU QBs Transferring

No starting quarterback for Michigan State has finished his career in East Lansing since Brian Lewerke.

That's a pretty substantial amount of time, given that Lewerke left campus back in 2019. Since that point, MSU has seen Rocky Lombardi transfer to Northern Illinois, Payton Thorne to Auburn, Katin Houser to East Carolina (and now Illinois), Noah Kim to Coastal Carolina (and now Eastern Michigan), Sam Leavitt to Arizona State (and now LSU), and Aidan Chiles to Northwestern.

Nov 1, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Leavitt technically never started a game for the Spartans, but he's been good enough that the point stands. Michigan State has been seeking out that "program" quarterback for too long now.

There might be something, though. Michigan State has Alessio Milivojevic up in line now. The hope now is that he can buck this ongoing trend.

Why Milivojevic Can Be 'Program' QB

The good part here is that we've all seen what Milivojevic can become. He got to take over as the starter for the final four games of the 2025 season. Milivojevic's performances over that stretch were one of the few bright spots of an otherwise tumultuous season.

As the starter, Milivojevic threw for 986 yards, seven touchdowns, and just two picks against Big Ten competition. There wasn't any garbage-time stat-padding going on in these games; Milivojevic's toughest game was in a semi-lopsided loss to Penn State.

Michigan State won the season finale against Maryland, but the Spartans really should have won Milivojevic's starting debut at Minnesota and the season's penultimate game at Iowa. MSU had late fourth-quarter leads in both of those games. According to ESPN, the Spartans had win probabilities of 94.9% and 92.0% in those two eventual losses.

Shockingly, Milivojevic was a lot closer to leading Michigan State to a bowl game than it may have seemed. MSU would've gotten there with wins in those two contests. Losing those two games is how the Spartans decided to move on from Jonathan Smith and go to Pat Fitzgerald.

Want-To

Michigan State Spartans quarterback Alessio Milivojevic (11) rolls out and looks to throw during a game against the Maryland Terrapins at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

The other promising sign is that Milivojevic is still here. He could have probably been an enticing prospect in the transfer portal this winter. No one would have blamed him for doing so after a coaching change and with how well he played in those four games. Having three years of eligibility left would've made his value even higher.

You want your starting quarterback to want to be where he is. Milivojevic has shown that's the case with himself and Michigan State, both in his lack of a transfer portal decision, and in his going out of his way to help MSU recruit players in the transfer portal.