This Michigan State stat may lead to Pat Fitzgerald exceeding expectations in Year 1

There are a few main components that go into every winning football team: talent, depth, and experience. Michigan State has a little bit of the first two, but the third main component might just be the Spartans’ strength this year.

Talent and depth might not be strengths for Pat Fitzgerald’s first season at the helm, but experience is something that he won’t have to worry much about.

And that could lead to him exceeding some early expectations.

How experienced could Michigan State possibly be this year? The Spartans are actually the fourth-oldest team in the Power Four entering the 2026 season. No, that’s not a typo — Michigan State is fourth in the Power Four in average age at 20.64, according to College Football Report.

Obviously having an older team does not guarantee anyone a successful season, but usually when there’s good coaching, moderate talent, and decent depth, it can create the perfect storm for a surprise season. Michigan State has all of those components.

Fitzgerald is a much better coach than Jonathan Smith and Mel Tucker were, and that’s based on the success that he had at Northwestern. He took that program to new heights and did things that no coach has ever been able to do in Evanston. Now he’s tapping into Mark Dantonio for some advice and he has one of Coach D’s protégés (Max Bullough) on the staff.

Moderate talent is a fair assessment of what Michigan State has as well. Cam Edwards, Jordan Hall, Tre Bell, Kenny Soares Jr., Chrishon McCray, Ben Murawski, Trent Fraley, Rhys Dakin, Charles Brantley, and Nikai Martinez all have All-Big Ten talent which is an impressive list of guys for a team projected by many to finish in the 3-9 or 4-8 range.

As for decent depth, most positions have been addressed like the running back room, quarterback, receiver, offensive line, linebacker, and defensive line. The only area on the team that’s not super deep is the secondary.

Combine all of those along with the fourth-highest average age in the Power Four and Michigan State may have just created that perfect storm.

We’ll know early on if Michigan State has that ‘it’ factor

Having an older, more experienced team is great, but it means nothing if Michigan State doesn’t play like a team that’s been there before. We’re going to know pretty early on if Michigan State’s age will play a major factor this season in a positive way.

After taking on a couple of MAC teams, Michigan State will head to South Bend to face a top-10 Notre Dame team on the road. If the Spartans can hold their own and avoid being run off the field in the first half, fans can start really putting stock into that experience component. If the team comes out and looks sloppy and unprepared, we may need to readjust those elevated expectations.

You have to remember that one of the main reasons Indiana won a national title last year was because Curt Cignetti had a team of veterans leading the way. It can certainly be the difference between a bowl berth and a 3-9 season.

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