With every coaching change, player attrition is to be expected. Michigan State fans have already seen it in full force with the transfer portal news surrounding Nick Marsh and Makhi Frazier.
The losses are starting to roll in, but so are the reaffirmations.
A handful of recruits have already announced their intentions to sign with Michigan State on Wednesday while others are still mulling their decisions. Samson Gash announced that he won’t be signing during the early period and instead will wait until February, giving other programs a chance to make a run at him, but also allowing Pat Fitzgerald a chance to convince him to sign.
Jordan Vann, however, didn’t allow Fitzgerald the same amount of grace.
The three-star safety who has been committed to Michigan State since June has already made up his mind on his immediate future, flipping his pledge to Louisville on Monday evening.
BREAKING: Class of 2026 Safety Jordan Vann has Flipped his Commitment from Michigan State to Louisville, he tells me for @rivals⁰⁰The 6’1 200 S had been Committed to the Spartans since June⁰⁰“I’m home Go Cards #AGTG 🤍❤️”⁰⁰https://t.co/vMVzErXBJU pic.twitter.com/EGlK8Fzwks
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 1, 2025
Vann becomes the first 2026 recruit to announce his intention to decommit since the Fitzgerald hire, and he likely won’t be the last. He was one of the most intriguing defensive prospects committed to the Spartans, but he’ll now be headed to the ACC to play for Jeff Brohm.
Michigan State’s 2026 class fell a few spots in the national rankings, sitting at No. 37 on Monday evening. Fitzgerald will get a chance to salvage the class after he’s introduced as Michigan State’s next head coach on Tuesday afternoon, and I fully expect him to sign a decent class that Jonathan Smith built into a top-30 group before Tyren Wortham and Braylon Hodge decommitted.
The Spartans could still finish with a top-30 class, but it’ll require some flips by Fitzgerald which won’t be easy considering he’s been out of the game for two years.
Fitzgerald also knows that recruiting expectations are much higher in East Lansing than they were in Evanston, but he’ll have more resources to do the job at Michigan State. He’s never been afraid of work, though.
The next couple of days are going to be important for the future of the program under Fitzgerald as he’ll be introduced publicly on Tuesday and then he’ll have to sign his first Spartan recruiting class on Wednesday.