Michigan State football working hard to flip 4-star Pitt commit

Winning cures everything. Just ask new Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith who was riding a three-game losing streak heading into Saturday's showdown with Iowa in East Lansing and his Spartans dominated en route to a 32-20 win.

The vibes are better, the team is starting to really believe in the staff and each other, and recruiting is about to get a shot in the arm, especially if the winning continues.

A big-name visitor was on campus for the win on Saturday night in the form of four-star safety Elijah Dotson from Belleville, Mich. He is currently committed to Pitt, but this visit shows that he's at least open to hearing more about the program in East Lansing.

Allen Trieu of 247Sports broke some interesting news on Sunday, stating that Dotson is already planning a return visit to Michigan State on an official after Saturday's trip.

This just goes to show what can happen when you start winning games and getting the Michigan State football program back on track. Local kids will start flocking to East Lansing.

Dotson has been committed to Pitt since May and it felt like his recruitment was pretty much sewn up, but after watching Michigan State's defense shut Iowa down and the team just dominate from start to finish, it had to be a new intriguing option for the top-200 recruit.

The Belleville product is ranked the No. 118 prospect nationally as well as the 10th-best safety in the 2025 class, per 247Sports. He's also the state of Michigan's No. 2 recruit.

If the Spartans can flip him, that would give them two of the top three in-state prospects with the No. 1 guy (Bryce Underwood) likely headed to the SEC (he's currently committed to LSU).