”Pat Signals” are flying around on Twitter these days as Michigan State’s first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald teases “silent” transfer commitments.
Shortly after, there’s a new public commitment from a new transfer weapon.
While Fitzgerald is getting to work in the portal with a relentless mentality. From the sounds of it, he’s more motivated than anyone truly expected and he’s working feverishly to build a postseason team in year one. I don’t think he’s trying to settle for “just making a bowl”, obviously, but he knows that Curt Cignetti turnarounds don’t just happen.
Fitzgerald is putting in that work to turn the program around, and while he’s landed nearly 30 transfers in a week, he’s also gotten some important players to return for the 2026 season.
Although Nick Marsh, Makhi Frazier, Aydan West, and Michael Masunas decided to transfer out, Fitzgerald got guys like Brady Pretzlaff, Alessio Milivojevic, Jordan Hall, Chrishon McCray, Conner Moore, Nikai Martinez, and Rustin Young to all announce returns.
One more important player announced his official return this weekend.
Back to work. #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/3u0dJ2BnEF
— Derrick Simmons (@DerrickSimm2025) January 10, 2026
Derrick Simmons will be back for a potential breakout season with plenty of snaps up for grabs in the middle of that defensive line. Alex VanSumeren’s departure had to make the decision to come back under FItzgerald a little easier because of the depth chart.
Derrick Simmons was hyped up during fall camp
The previous coaching staff desperately wanted some younger guys to step up to help turn things around, and Simmons sounded like he was next in line. He was one of the most hyped-up Spartans during fall camp as the coaching staff continued to heap praise on him during weekly pressers.
Joe Rossi and the other position coaches were praising Simmons on almost a daily basis, hinting at a potential large role as a true freshman.
Obviously it’s difficult for true freshmen to crack the rotation, so Simmons played minimally early on, and then decided to retain his redshirt. He made a solid impression early on with the previous staff, and that almost translated to first-year rotational reps.
Simmons is going to be a big piece to the defensive line puzzle in 2026.