Michigan State football returning players tracker: Who is back under Pat Fitzgerald?

The Pat Fitzgerald era is officially underway in East Lansing, and the new Michigan State football coach is trying to figure out his roster for the upcoming season.

Fitzgerald’s first signing day is in the books and he’s still working on closing out the 2026 cycle on a high note — he will have to work on Samson Gash. There are two months until the final signing day, so he has time to do some recruiting of his own outside of the transfer portal.

Speaking of the transfer portal, Fitzgerald is going to have to do some damage there. He will also be keeping an eye on the Spartans who are opting to enter.

Only a couple of Spartans have decided to hit the portal after Jonathan Smith was fired, but a number of players have decided to return to East Lansing. Although these decisions aren’t technically official and just based on “home” emojis used on social media, I’ve decided to put together a list of players who have announced that they’re back.

Michigan State football players who’ve announced 2026 return

Several players have posted about returning to Michigan State under Fitzgerald this week, and I’m sure more are coming after meetings with the new head coach.

Alessio Milivojevic, QB

Martin Connington, K

Brady Pretzlaff, LB

These are all huge returns for the 2026 Michigan State football roster. Obviously a lot can change during spring ball when these guys figure out where they stand on the depth chart under their new head coach. For now, it feels like all of these guys are locked in with the new coach, and that’s a good sign for the culture in East Lansing.

Obviously losing a guy like Nick Marsh to the transfer portal hurts, but Michigan State should be bringing back plenty of talent at the receiver position so it won’t hurt as much.

Fitzgerald has made a solid impression on some key players for next season, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the new era of Spartan football. Plus, more NIL money is coming in thanks to J Batt and Greg Williams.

Keep it tuned in here for all the player returning announcements.