It’s a good day to be a Michigan State football believer.
Sunday was kind to Pat Fitzgerald and the Spartans who landed several transfers, starting with UConn offensive tackle Ben Murawski. That was a huge addition to the roster, especially with all the departures in the trenches. Michigan State lost a handful of offensive linemen.
The Spartans are now stronger in the trenches after that addition, and they’re now addressing other key positions of need in the transfer portal.
Fitzgerald landed a highly-productive FCS cornerback on Sunday afternoon shortly after getting the good news about Murawski.
Tyran Chappell, the No. 115 cornerback in the portal, became Michigan State’s second transfer commit of the Fitzgerald era.
Let’s do it!🏠 @MSU_Football pic.twitter.com/4bt4y8fXYw
— Tyran Chappell (@tyran_chappell) January 4, 2026
Chappell is a nice addition seeing as the redshirt freshman from Houston Christian had four interceptions this past season along with seven pass deflections. He has three years of eligibility left, and he’s going to be battling for a starting spot in Hank Poteat’s secondary.
Oh, and he’s 6-foot-3 so he has incredible size for the position.
Pat Fitzgerald addressed another key position
Fitzgerald knew he needed to address the offensive line and the defensive backfield, and his first two transfer commits were just that.
The Spartans lost over a dozen players from the two position groups combined, and both guys should have an immediate impact. Murawski is going to step right in and compete for a starting job on the offensive line which he will almost undoubtedly lock up, and Chappell will be fighting for a starting cornerback job with guys like Joshua Eaton, Malcolm Bell, Aydan West, and Chance Rucker moving on.
It also helps that Chappell has three years of eligibility left and he knows a thing or two about playing cornerback at a high level.
Poteat was just hired by Fitzgerald to coach the cornerbacks, and aside from getting Tre Bell to visit from Iowa State, he’s having a huge impact already. He’s helped the Spartans land their second transfer of the 2026 class.
Fitzgerald is going to have a busy next few weeks in the portal, and fortunately, he has the coaching staff in place to help build the roster from the ground up.