Michigan State football coach Pat Fitzgerald is working on piecing together his coaching staff, but he also has to work on getting some key players back for the 2026 season.
Fitzgerald probably doesn’t expect to compete for a Big Ten title in year one, but he’s seen what Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana so he can’t completely count that out — it’s possible, but also an extreme outlier. In the transfer portal era, you can turn a program around much quicker.
But Fitzgerald knew that he needed to retain some key players in order to have success in 2026.
Fortunately, he got his two most important players back.
Shortly after Fitzgerald replaced Jonathan Smith, starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic announced that he was returning. Since then, Michigan State has gotten a few more key players back like Brady Pretzlaff, Ben Roberts, Braylon Collier, Derrick Simmons, Aydan West, Martin Connington, and perhaps the biggest news came on Tuesday night when Jordan Hall announced his return.
For Fitzgerald to get the leader of his offense as well as the captain of his defense back, he has to feel fortunate to have player-coaches on both sides of the ball back.
This was probably priority No. 1 after the early signing period.
Jordan Hall, Alessio Milivojevic returns could set off domino effect
The defense is starting to take shape with guys like West, Pretzlaff, Simmons, Roberts, and now Hall back, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the latest news set off a domino effect. I could see other veterans joining Hall in returning like Jalen Thompson, Alex VanSumeren, and Nikai Martinez.
As for the offensive side of the ball, having the QB1 back should draw some receivers, linemen, tight ends, and running backs back to East Lansing. Collier, Jayden Savoury, and Evan Boyd have already hinted at returns, and now it’s time to get guys like Michael Masunas, Conner Moore, Rustin Young, Stanton Ramil, Brandon Tullis, and Jace Clarizio back.
It also has to help that the coaching staff is coming together quickly. Fitzgerald has hired his offensive and defensive coordinators, his receivers coach, his tight ends coach, a safeties coach, a linebackers coach, and a special teams coordinator.
The foundation is there. Now it’s time to build on that in the transfer portal.