Pat Fitzgerald accepted the Michigan State job knowing that turning the Spartans around would be one of the toughest tasks of his college football coaching career.
The former Northwestern head coach had previously been tasked with making one of the toughest places to win at in the Big Ten a competitive football program. He did just that, turning Northwestern into one of the peskiest teams that no one wanted to face. He even made a trip to the Big Ten title game before some big names — like Michigan — did.
Fitzgerald now has to turn a team that hasn’t won more than five games since 2021 into a perennial contender which is something the Spartans haven’t been in a decade.
And he has to do it with one of the most wilted rosters in the country thanks to Jonathan Smith and the mass exodus at the end of the Mel Tucker era.
According to 2026 roster talent rankings by Punt & Rally, which ranks teams by blue chip ratio, Michigan State is one of the least talented teams in the Big Ten.
Big Ten Football Team Talent Rankings, via @PuntandRally pic.twitter.com/YNHJiCcCWq
— The Big Ten Huddle 🎙️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) July 23, 2026
Michigan State comes in at No. 15 in the team talent rankings in the Big Ten with an 11 percent blue chip ratio, just behind Indiana’s 15 percent. That means the Spartans are technically, according to this ranking, the 61st-most talented team in college football.
Woof.
These rankings may be a bit deceiving for some teams like the reigning national champs, but Indiana (No.14) was built on James Madison products as well as transfer portal acquisitions. It’s now that Curt Cignetti is starting to land blue-chippers on the recruiting trail.
Michigan State’s talent may be more of the hidden variety
I’m here to say that Michigan State is slightly more talented than these rankings give it credit for, and I’ll share why I believe that.
While I do agree that the blue chip ratio is horrid because Smith rarely knocked recruiting out of the park with four-stars, I see some returning talent mixed with transfer portal acquisitions that could give Michigan State a chance to surprise some people.
Not enough talent? Tell that to guys like Jordan Hall, Charles Brantley (2024 version hopefully), Derrick Simmons, Kenny Soares Jr., Nikai Martinez, Conner Moore, Ben Murawski, Trent Fraley, Carson Gulker, Jayden Savoury, Alessio Milivojevic, Cam Edwards, Marvis Parrish, Braylon Collier, Samsons Gash, Collin Campbell, Luka Vincic, and Chrishon McCray — and the list goes on.
These are all guys who I believe will become household names for Michigan State fans this year and I believe that all will play critical roles in this program’s turnaround.
The metrics are showing that Fitzgerald has an uphill battle in front of him, but he has some key pieces that are being overlooked just because of what the past four years have looked like for Michigan State. I think the Spartans are being judged on previous seasons rather than the current product, and I’m not sure that’s fair.
One thing is for certain: Fitzgerald needs to recruit better than his predecessors.
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