For years, Michigan State fans have felt lied to about the state of the offensive line.
Chris Kapilovic was touted as an elite offensive line coach, and he had a track record of success, but Michigan State’s offensive line struggled under his watch. After Mel Tucker was fired, he wasn’t retained by Jonathan Smith and the new staff so he got a job at Alabama with Kalen DeBoer.
After watching Kapilovic’s offensive lines struggle for years and him missing out on a lot of top targets and settling for Plan B/C guys, it felt like a classic case of failing upward. When he struggled at Alabama, Michigan State fans felt vindicated. They weren’t crazy for thinking that Kapilovic was falling short on his promises to turn the offensive line around.
Then Jim Michalczik came over with Jonathan Smith from Oregon State and that was supposed to be an upgrade, but he, too, struggled to turn the offensive line around. Aidan Chiles was always running for his life and the run game had no holes to run through.
When Smith was fired, Michalczik also left as new head coach Pat Fitzgerald brought in his own guy: Nick Tabacca from Wake Forest.
Tabacca had an impressive track record, but fans didn’t know a ton about him.
So far, he’s exceeding expectations.
Nick Tabacca is setting the standard for the rest of the staff
If this new staff is going to have success in East Lansing, they need to follow Tabacca’s lead on the recruiting trail. While it remains to be seen if he can develop this talent and mold Michigan State’s offensive line into one of the best in the Big Ten for the first time in a decade, he’s recruiting at a high level.
Tabacca has set the standard for how Michigan State coaches need to be recruiting.
Shortly after taking the job, he pieced together a really solid offensive line class via the transfer portal — obviously with Fitzgerald’s help and guidance — headlined by three guys who could become starters in Trent Fraley, Ben Murawski, and Nick Sharpe. He also convinced Rustin Young and Conner Moore to remain in East Lansing instead of hitting the portal.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Tabacca just landed the Spartans’ No. 1 recruit in the 2027 class in Caleb Johnson. The No. 213 recruit in the nation picked Michigan State over offensive line powerhouse Iowa and reigning national champ Indiana — and Johnson is from Indiana.
Tabacca also picked up commitments from Grant Adloff and Jack Carlson in the 2027 class. His recruits account for three of the top four ranked Michigan State commits. Not too shabby.
For years, we were told that Kapilovic and Michalczik were going to turn the line around. Tabacca has been on the job for six months and the offensive line has the best outlook it’s had in a decade.
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