About one full season’s worth of games as a starting college football quarterback, Michigan State’s Alessio Milivojevic has been fairly decent, passing for just over 2,500 yards and 17 touchdowns with six picks and a completion rate of about 65 percent.
There’s not much more you can ask from a starting quarterback on a bad team, but Milivojevic is doing the best he can given the circumstances.
However, he may be giving way to a true freshman ahead of a top-10 road battle, and not by choice. Alessio appeared on the initial injury report ahead of the UCLA game as “questionable” and his backup, Cam Fancher, is out. That means that the Kayd Coffman era may be getting started way sooner than expected.
The true freshman from East Kentwood in Grand Rapids, Mich., was a four-star recruit in the 2026 class, ranked No. 274 nationally, and he appeared in the Wisconsin game as Milivojevic’s replacement when the Spartans decided to wave the white flag down four touchdowns. He got the nod over Leo Hannan which tells us what the staff thinks of him.
He’s ready.
Unfortunately, no one expected the Coffman era to get started this early, but if Milivojevic is really hurt, Pat Fitzgerald will have no choice. This might not be a bad thing either.
No one wants to start a true freshman for the first time on the road against a top-10 opponent, but Coffman was a premier recruit so he came to Michigan State hoping for opportunities like this.
Starting Coffman on Saturday might also keep him from entertaining the idea of a transfer in the offseason — yes, it’s ridiculous that we even have to worry about that nowadays.
It’s way sooner than expected, but Fitzgerald is going to see what the future could look like.
Kayd Coffman will lead a youth movement
It’s not for certain yet as Milivojevic is just listed as questionable and could very well be good to go on Saturday, but the signs are pointing to Coffman getting the nod.
If that’s the case, he’s going to lead the latest edition of the Michigan State youth movement (trademark pending). Michigan State has had a “youth movement” pretty much every year since 2022 and it hasn’t paid off yet. This new coaching staff feels different, though — almost like they know what they’re doing.
Coffman, Marvis Parrish, Bryson Williams, Jayden Savoury, Samson Gash, Derrick Simmons, Jeremiah Favorite, DeJae White — the youth movement has already begun.
On Saturday, Coffman could headline the group against UCLA and if he can somehow find a way to beat the Nico Iamaleava-less Bruins, he might just hold on to that starting quarterback spot for the rest of the year considering the season is essentially lost.
After five straight losses, some change was needed. No one wants to see Milivojevic hurt, but if he can’t go, Coffman could inject some new life into the Spartans.
Anyone else holding on to a boatload of Coffman stock? Let’s see that Coffman-Gash connection get going early on Saturday if Milivojevic is out.
The future is here.
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