Pat Fitzgerald is putting the final touches on his 2026 recruiting class, and the Michigan State head coach has done a pretty impressive job given the circumstances.
He took over a program that was coming off its fourth straight bowl-less season, and which just finished 4-8 during a lifeless season under Jonathan Smith. The team didn't show much of any fire, but that stemmed from the head coach not exactly being considered a motivator -- maybe he was different behind the scenes.
Whenever there's a coaching change, there are transfers. There are actually transfers everywhere, so it's not just when there's a coaching change. But Fitzgerald knew he was going to lose some key players, and he did. Nick Marsh, Alex VanSumeren, Aydan West, Makhi Frazier, Michael Masunas, and Stanton Ramil all entered the portal, among others.
Fitzgerald took the hits, and rebounded with a solid transfer portal class and he just signed his first high school recruiting class at Michigan State. And it was his first in about three years, too.
The headline of the day was Samson Gash telling Penn State and Alabama "no thanks" and signing with Michigan State first thing in the morning. He joins his older brother, Caleb Gash, on the Spartans' 2026 roster. They'll hope to add younger brother and four-star defensive back Gideon Gash in the 2027 class.
It wasn't just the signees on scholarship that turned heads, though.
The Spartans added several preferred walk-ons, and one may have had the quote of the day after signing with Michigan State.
Nick Sheridan: A quarterback's dream OC?
After signing with Michigan State on Wednesday as a walk-on, Muskegon quarterback Peyton Babbitt had arguably the quote of the day, saying that he grew up always wanting to play for the Spartans and that he "would die" for that opportunity. He spoke to Corey Robinson of 247Sports about his dream school on Wednesday.
"Every kid who plays football has their 'big' program where they want to go and will die for, and it just happened to be MSU was that school for me. Now I have an opportunity to play there. It's insane to think about."Peyton Babbitt via 247Sports
Every kid did have that one school that they rooted heavy for and anyone who plays sports knows that there was a time when you thought you were good enough to play for that program.
That's Michigan State for Babbitt. He's a lifelong Spartan fan.
Now, he gets to play for Michigan State and new offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan who came over from Alabama. Babbitt called him "a quarterback and athlete's dream".
We'll see if Sheridan lives up to that lofty praise in about seven months.