Michigan State loses another priority 4-star DL to Big Ten rival days after his visit

It’s been a few days since the first official visit weekend of the summer and Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald likely has some mixed feelings.

On one hand, he landed his first commitment from the weekend in three-star linebacker Matthew Brady over Illinois and Nebraska and there’s another one coming. But on the other hand, he’s missing out on some of his top targets, including several four-stars on the defensive line.

The Spartans lost official visits from Myles Smith, Nehemiah Ombati, and Marvin Nguetsop but they did get one from four-star Columbus, Ohio, product Reinaldo Perez.

Although he seemingly loved his visit and spoke highly of the Spartans following his trip, Perez has committed to a Big Ten rival, becoming the second four-star defensive line target to pick the Hoosiers after scheduling a May 29 official visit to Michigan State.

Perez was a guy who was going to be a top target for the staff until his commitment, but that came sooner than expected. Now that he’s off the board, the staff needs to shift its focus to other defensive line targets like Marcellus Young Casario, Lawrence Kanneh, and Dallas Ward. The list of targets is getting thinner by the day. The defensive line focus in the 2027 class may just have to be in the portal.

It’s tough to see guys like Amari Vickerson, Perez, Ombati, and Smith commit elsewhere, especially since two of them went to the same Big Ten rival.

Fitzgerald has to win some of these battles in order to avoid falling further behind.

It’s still early in the Pat Fitzgerald era

Aside from the misses on the defensive line, Michigan State hasn’t had a ton of luck with some of its top targets at other positions in the 2027 class.

Still, it’s early in the Fitzgerald era and he deserves some time to prove himself. He took over a program that was essentially dead in the water after Mel Tucker and Jonathan Smith left it mangled and unrecognizable. He’s now in charge of providing a “rebirth” and putting Michigan State back on the map. He’s going to have these misses early on.

A lot will be riding on the 2026 season.

If Fitzgerald can prove that he’s got the program trending back in the right direction and if he can get Michigan State to a bowl game in year one, I think you’ll see a lot more four-star talent making its way to East Lansing in the 2028 class and beyond. He needs to prove that he’s not all talk and he can get the job done on the field.

Don’t get discouraged over these four-star misses. He’ll get his.

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