Surprise visitors coming to Michigan State football's Spartan Dawg Con weekend

The last big recruiting event of the summer is almost upon us as Michigan State football’s Spartan Dawg Con is taking place this weekend. This event is a massive recruiting event similar to the June official visit season with the only difference being it targets visitors from the 2026 junior class instead of the upcoming senior class.

This year’s Spartan Dawg Con unfortunately will be the last due to new NCAA rules beginning next year making all of July a recruiting dead period. So the hope is that Jonathan Smith and his staff will go all out the one time they get to host it.

And it sounds like they may be doing just that.

Former Michigan State football players attending Spartan Dawg Con

According to Kurt Richardson, who is the Director for Player Engagement with Michigan State football, the list of former MSU players attending the event this weekend is very impressive. While the list of names attending hasn’t been released yet, just knowing that it sounds like some big names is extremely exciting.

This will go a long way in recruiting the targets attending Spartan Dawg Con. First, it will show just how close-knit a family the program really is. Also having former players hanging around makes the trip much more memorable for the recruits visiting. Who wouldn’t want to meet former legends of a program they’re interested in playing for themselves?

This culture of former players coming back to the program is one I hope Smith keeps intact. That was something Mel Tucker was big on as well and one of the only things I liked about his coaching style. So I really hope the emphasis on former players giving back to the program remains the same.

With Spartan Dawg Con beginning this Friday, the list of names will likely be released any day now. But whoever it is, I’m just excited to see that Smith is going the extra mile to keep the former players involved in the program.