To succeed as a head coach in East Lansing, you have to have the correct strategy for team-building. Every good Michigan State football team has had a great player-led vibe to it, and that dates back decades. The best teams feel more like a family than just a collection of athletes.
Pat Fitzgerald noticed that was missing at Michigan State over the past few years, and he's already working on restoring the culture and getting the Spartans back to being a player-led program.
The new head coach has the perfect strategy.
With spring ball kicking off on Tuesday, Fitzgerald spoke to the media about the first day with the team and he touched on its leadership, noting that Jordan Hall and Alessio Milivojevic have emerged.
He also shared a great strategy to culiminate a player-led program.
"The players voted on who they wanted by their positions to represent themselves. I want to be a player-led football team and a player-led program."
— Kara Adams (@karaadams2_) March 17, 2026
Coach Fitz spoke on naming unity counsels within the program, and added that linebacker Jordan Hall and QB Alessio Milivojevic… pic.twitter.com/2HWdeTnhKr
Fitzgerald had his guys vote on players to represent each position group and those representatives will meet with the head coach throughout the season to make sure everyone is on the same page. This is a great strategy for Fitzgerald to manage his roster and make sure that there are no serious issues anywhere as each position group will have a representative, voted on by their teammates.
In the early stages of rebuilding a program, this is the perfect set-up for long-term success. Having a system like this gives Fitzgerald a chance to make sure all voices are heard and to manage any problems that arise throughout the year.
Michigan State has had some great player-led teams
While Mark Dantonio was a great leader, he also loved having player-led teams. Tom Izzo also talks about it all the time -- it just makes things easier on the coaching staff.
In the Dantonio era alone, the 2013 Rose Bowl team was player-led by guys like Connor Cook (whether the media wanted to believe it or not), Darqueze Dennard, and Max Bullough, among several other players who turned the Spartans into national title contenders.
Even that 2017 team that followed up the 3-9 team in 2016 had a great player-led feel to it with Brian Lewerke on offense and Joe Bachie on defense.
If Milivojevic and Hall live up to the hype, the 2026 squad has a chance to join the ranks of the successful player-led teams that have come through East Lansing.