Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Spring Showcase Wraps Up Spring Practice for Spartans
4/18/2026 4:26:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team held its 15th and final spring practice on Saturday as it hosted the Spring Showcase in Spartan Stadium.
The Spartans practiced for two hours, spending the majority of time in controlled 11-on-11 scrimmage situations without live tackling.
Following the practice, the team held an autograph session and first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald took pictures with fans.
Michigan State will host Toledo in the 2026 season opener on Saturday, Sept. 5 in Spartan Stadium.
Transcript – Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald Quotes (April 18)
Opening statement…
First of all, thanks everybody for being here. Huge thanks to the great Spartan Nation fan base. What a beautiful 82-degree sunny day today was (smiling) and to see that type of support was amazing. So huge kudos and thank you to our great fans.
A couple thoughts — we've had a ton of development and growth. Starting in the winter with the strength coach, Coach (Joel) Welsh, our body weights are up over six pounds per guy. Just really impressed with the job that he's done and the way that our guys have come together and really started to forge a brotherhood, which is them giving of themselves for the greater good of the team. To see that growth as a group has been outstanding. Now that we're going to have 13 new guys here in the summer (incoming freshmen), to see that brotherhood really start to come together is something I'm really proud of.
Really thankful for the alignment. To have Kevin Guskiewicz as our president, J Batt as our AD, you can feel that along with our coaches and our staff and the way that our players have bought into what we've brought here from a values thought process, the way that we want to go about developing the program and developing them individually. They've bought in, but to have that alignment is something that I'm very grateful for and very thankful for as we move forward.
I just couldn't be more excited about the future of Michigan State football. As I alluded to when I first got here, toughness was born here and we're working our tails off to establish that. Early practices, kicking things off at 6:20 in the morning, we had guys that would be in the building at 4:50, 4:30 to get warmed up and get ready to go. We've pushed them hard in every aspect of everything we've done since we started and the guys have responded, and they've responded in a positive way, so it's exciting.
It's exciting the way that they're investing, it's exciting the way that they're grinding. To think about where we're at with the alignment and the kickoff of Spartan Ventures and all the support that we've got from President Guskiewicz and J Batt — it's an awesome, awesome time to be a Spartan.
We put the roster together to add competitive depth and you saw a lot of different guys get reps today. That obviously is a snapshot of one day of practice, but I like where we're at from a standpoint of having a lot of depth that's going to have to compete, improve and get better as we move forward in this next, and probably most important, phase of team development, which is the third quarter of the offseason, which is summer workouts.
I want to give a huge shoutout and thank you to our students that help and support our football program on an everyday basis — video, creative, nutrition, athletic training, equipment staff, recruiting, operations and coaching staff. We started things at 6:20 in the morning — they were there before we were, they were there after we left. For our students that come and support Spartan football, we're incredibly thankful and incredibly grateful. We've got a couple weeks here, finals coming up in a week, then a couple weeks off, then the guys get back and we get into that third quarter where we really kick things into overdrive from a strength and conditioning and coming together standpoint.
Fired up for that next step. Just so we're all scoring at home, we start camp 110 days from now, we'll be back in Spartan Stadium to take on the opener in 141 days, and we go down the road to take on Michigan in 203 days. Those things are all top of mind with me, with our coaches and with our program. So that's what's coming up next for us — this next step here in the third quarter. Appreciate you listening, and I'll answer any and all questions that you have.
On if he expected the defense to have the upper-hand today…
I wouldn't overthink who had highs and lows today — it was one day of practice. I'd say on Thursday the offense had more production, so today was a good day for the defense. It's definitely a little bit easier in controlled situations for the defense, there's no doubt about that, but I thought there were some good things offensively. There are a lot of different moving parts. We've got different guys that are going to be in the mix in the summer and then in the fall that maybe weren't available in the spring. Overall, just really, really happy with the growth of the entire football program.
On the secondary…
Yeah, it kind of goes back to what I alluded to earlier about competitive depth. I think we've got a lot of great depth there. You saw some new faces out there, maybe for the first time for you guys watching practice. Bryan Gasser and our personnel department put together a plan as we went in the portal, and I've said it multiple times — to add competitive depth. To me, that's an area where we hit a lot of home runs. A lot of talent back there on the back end, and we're going to need it, not only on defense but also in the kicking game.
On the value of having redshirt sophomore QB Alessio Milivojevic already named the starter…
Let's go back to the decision we made to fully buy into (Alessio). When we started our journey here, we evaluated his tape, we looked at where we saw him in the games he was able to play in last year, and with the wisdom and experience we have to project, we went all in to have him be our starting quarterback. There's a lot on that position's plate, and when you have a new coordinator and a whole new system, those are things you need to work on every moment of every day. Now, are we the finished product? No. Are we the finished product offensively? No. Are we the finished product as a team? No. But I'll go back to what I said — we start camp 110 days from now. We've got a lot of work. This won't stop. But we have great confidence in (Alessio), and I really like the depth in that room. Through the 15 practices, there's been ebb and flow with every guy, but (Alessio) is our starter and we're excited that he is. We're looking forward to him leading the program. He's done a terrific job from a leadership standpoint, and I know he's going to take another step here in this third quarter of our prep.
On if today's scrimmage was tackling to the ground, and if call it 'Thud' tackling…
Yeah, we do all of our tackling to the ground. Depending on where our health is, that's the first way I evaluate it. We had a number of guys that were banged up, either O-line wise or just some other guys with bumps and bruises that we weren't necessarily going to go tackle live in scrimmage situations. So, yeah, I define it the same way as Coach D (Mark Dantonio). We call it 'thud,' and today was a 'smart thud day.' We've been grinding for 15 practices. We wanted to walk off healthy. We walked out of today healthy, 100%. Fundamentally and technically, (defensive coordinator) Joe Rossi, and then (head football strength and conditioning coach) Joel Welsh, moving forward in the summer with the strength program, we will work on the fundamentals of tackling everyday we're together. Either the footwork, the angles, the way we go about it, how we work together, and then the athleticism and the reactions and things that we need to do with the strength staff when we get going to summer workouts.
On Bryson Williams and Kenneth Williams…
Bryson (Williams) is a big physical young man that's got a huge future. I mean, there's not many young men that are 220 pounds that can move like he can move and you just saw a lot of growth from him throughout the spring for him, and man oh man are we excited about him. KW (Kenneth Williams), man, he's explosive, we think we've got, similar to the question about the secondary, I think we've got really solid competitive depth in the running back room. That was by design. Cam (Edwards) and Jazz (Jaziun Patterson) were what we thought they we're going to be, and KW (Kenneth Williams) has been wild. (Marvis Parrish) has been wild. Like a lot of guys have played well. Zion (Gist) has played well. There's a lot of depth there, and I can list every guy's name, like, it's a very competitive room. We're going to need that group to play well running the ball, play well in pass protection, play well catching the ball out of the backfield. We're going to have those guys that are three, four, five and below because they're so athletic. They're going to have to step up in the kick game too and add depth. I mean, that's how we're going to have to win games. We're going to have to win in the margins, like everybody in the Big Ten. And that third down, third phase and the kicking game, we've got to get that group to believe and buy into how important that is, and they've been great all spring. But that room is going to be really important in the kicking game.
On what he learned today…
I learned our fans are awesome. I mean, how about that? I mean, coming out, we've got the river flooding, roads closed, and a sunshiny day (laugh). They were awesome and we appreciate them more than anything. We wanted today to be a practice, and it was. I don't know how many total plays we got. Last time I heard we were somewhere around 80 or so, and I thought we had about 12 more minutes left, so we may have gotten 100 reps. It will be great to teach from, and again, in practice, there's so much flow that you have. I'm the happiest guy in the program right now because we walk out of today healthy. And that was obviously our number one goal, so I'm ecstatic about that.
On when the progression stops as the season gets closer…
Yeah, I think improvement is ongoing. That road is always under construction. I mean, all the way through, it will never stop. My last college game was against that kid named Peyton Manning. He turned out to be a pretty good player. You can figure out my last game, how that went with me on defense, and him at quarterback, but with that being said, he came and spoke to our quarterbacks at my last stop. He was going into his time at Denver, and he brought a couple of his notebooks. He brought a notebook from our game that we played against each other, and then he brought the notebook from the last game he played, like, he never stopped and that is our mindset. That's what (offensive coordinator) Nick (Sheridan) is talking to the guys about. That the road of improvement is always under construction, and we will be grinding all the way through. You never know when all the sudden it clicks for a guy. I learned a long time ago you never give up on a guy. You just keep coaching, keep coaching, keep coaching, keep coaching. But going back to your question, Bryson's (Bryson Williams) learning a new offense. Kind of being at one position now for the first time (wide receiver). There's just a lot going on and man, are we excited about him.
On if freshman have the chance to play in fall…
One hundred percent. I reserve the right to play the best 11 players in every single snap. I don't care how old you are, where you're from, none of that matters. We're going to do everything we can and that's going back to that theme of competitive depth. I want every guy walking out of here feeling like they can be the starter. What's more important is where their confidence is and we've got to get this group just as a team. We've got to harden our edge. We've got to get tougher and we have to get mentally tougher, but we've got to get more confidence and a little bit more swagger, and that's going to happen through preparation. It'll be in earnest when those guys come back. They're walking out of here with a workout plan for the next three weeks, four weeks. And we will be checking in to make sure that we're going where we need to go and how we need to do it, because when we come back, we're going to hit the ground running, and we're not going to kind of ease into it when the guys get back in June.
The Spartans practiced for two hours, spending the majority of time in controlled 11-on-11 scrimmage situations without live tackling.
Following the practice, the team held an autograph session and first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald took pictures with fans.
Michigan State will host Toledo in the 2026 season opener on Saturday, Sept. 5 in Spartan Stadium.
Transcript – Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald Quotes (April 18)
Opening statement…
First of all, thanks everybody for being here. Huge thanks to the great Spartan Nation fan base. What a beautiful 82-degree sunny day today was (smiling) and to see that type of support was amazing. So huge kudos and thank you to our great fans.
A couple thoughts — we've had a ton of development and growth. Starting in the winter with the strength coach, Coach (Joel) Welsh, our body weights are up over six pounds per guy. Just really impressed with the job that he's done and the way that our guys have come together and really started to forge a brotherhood, which is them giving of themselves for the greater good of the team. To see that growth as a group has been outstanding. Now that we're going to have 13 new guys here in the summer (incoming freshmen), to see that brotherhood really start to come together is something I'm really proud of.
Really thankful for the alignment. To have Kevin Guskiewicz as our president, J Batt as our AD, you can feel that along with our coaches and our staff and the way that our players have bought into what we've brought here from a values thought process, the way that we want to go about developing the program and developing them individually. They've bought in, but to have that alignment is something that I'm very grateful for and very thankful for as we move forward.
I just couldn't be more excited about the future of Michigan State football. As I alluded to when I first got here, toughness was born here and we're working our tails off to establish that. Early practices, kicking things off at 6:20 in the morning, we had guys that would be in the building at 4:50, 4:30 to get warmed up and get ready to go. We've pushed them hard in every aspect of everything we've done since we started and the guys have responded, and they've responded in a positive way, so it's exciting.
It's exciting the way that they're investing, it's exciting the way that they're grinding. To think about where we're at with the alignment and the kickoff of Spartan Ventures and all the support that we've got from President Guskiewicz and J Batt — it's an awesome, awesome time to be a Spartan.
We put the roster together to add competitive depth and you saw a lot of different guys get reps today. That obviously is a snapshot of one day of practice, but I like where we're at from a standpoint of having a lot of depth that's going to have to compete, improve and get better as we move forward in this next, and probably most important, phase of team development, which is the third quarter of the offseason, which is summer workouts.
I want to give a huge shoutout and thank you to our students that help and support our football program on an everyday basis — video, creative, nutrition, athletic training, equipment staff, recruiting, operations and coaching staff. We started things at 6:20 in the morning — they were there before we were, they were there after we left. For our students that come and support Spartan football, we're incredibly thankful and incredibly grateful. We've got a couple weeks here, finals coming up in a week, then a couple weeks off, then the guys get back and we get into that third quarter where we really kick things into overdrive from a strength and conditioning and coming together standpoint.
Fired up for that next step. Just so we're all scoring at home, we start camp 110 days from now, we'll be back in Spartan Stadium to take on the opener in 141 days, and we go down the road to take on Michigan in 203 days. Those things are all top of mind with me, with our coaches and with our program. So that's what's coming up next for us — this next step here in the third quarter. Appreciate you listening, and I'll answer any and all questions that you have.
On if he expected the defense to have the upper-hand today…
I wouldn't overthink who had highs and lows today — it was one day of practice. I'd say on Thursday the offense had more production, so today was a good day for the defense. It's definitely a little bit easier in controlled situations for the defense, there's no doubt about that, but I thought there were some good things offensively. There are a lot of different moving parts. We've got different guys that are going to be in the mix in the summer and then in the fall that maybe weren't available in the spring. Overall, just really, really happy with the growth of the entire football program.
On the secondary…
Yeah, it kind of goes back to what I alluded to earlier about competitive depth. I think we've got a lot of great depth there. You saw some new faces out there, maybe for the first time for you guys watching practice. Bryan Gasser and our personnel department put together a plan as we went in the portal, and I've said it multiple times — to add competitive depth. To me, that's an area where we hit a lot of home runs. A lot of talent back there on the back end, and we're going to need it, not only on defense but also in the kicking game.
On the value of having redshirt sophomore QB Alessio Milivojevic already named the starter…
Let's go back to the decision we made to fully buy into (Alessio). When we started our journey here, we evaluated his tape, we looked at where we saw him in the games he was able to play in last year, and with the wisdom and experience we have to project, we went all in to have him be our starting quarterback. There's a lot on that position's plate, and when you have a new coordinator and a whole new system, those are things you need to work on every moment of every day. Now, are we the finished product? No. Are we the finished product offensively? No. Are we the finished product as a team? No. But I'll go back to what I said — we start camp 110 days from now. We've got a lot of work. This won't stop. But we have great confidence in (Alessio), and I really like the depth in that room. Through the 15 practices, there's been ebb and flow with every guy, but (Alessio) is our starter and we're excited that he is. We're looking forward to him leading the program. He's done a terrific job from a leadership standpoint, and I know he's going to take another step here in this third quarter of our prep.
On if today's scrimmage was tackling to the ground, and if call it 'Thud' tackling…
Yeah, we do all of our tackling to the ground. Depending on where our health is, that's the first way I evaluate it. We had a number of guys that were banged up, either O-line wise or just some other guys with bumps and bruises that we weren't necessarily going to go tackle live in scrimmage situations. So, yeah, I define it the same way as Coach D (Mark Dantonio). We call it 'thud,' and today was a 'smart thud day.' We've been grinding for 15 practices. We wanted to walk off healthy. We walked out of today healthy, 100%. Fundamentally and technically, (defensive coordinator) Joe Rossi, and then (head football strength and conditioning coach) Joel Welsh, moving forward in the summer with the strength program, we will work on the fundamentals of tackling everyday we're together. Either the footwork, the angles, the way we go about it, how we work together, and then the athleticism and the reactions and things that we need to do with the strength staff when we get going to summer workouts.
On Bryson Williams and Kenneth Williams…
Bryson (Williams) is a big physical young man that's got a huge future. I mean, there's not many young men that are 220 pounds that can move like he can move and you just saw a lot of growth from him throughout the spring for him, and man oh man are we excited about him. KW (Kenneth Williams), man, he's explosive, we think we've got, similar to the question about the secondary, I think we've got really solid competitive depth in the running back room. That was by design. Cam (Edwards) and Jazz (Jaziun Patterson) were what we thought they we're going to be, and KW (Kenneth Williams) has been wild. (Marvis Parrish) has been wild. Like a lot of guys have played well. Zion (Gist) has played well. There's a lot of depth there, and I can list every guy's name, like, it's a very competitive room. We're going to need that group to play well running the ball, play well in pass protection, play well catching the ball out of the backfield. We're going to have those guys that are three, four, five and below because they're so athletic. They're going to have to step up in the kick game too and add depth. I mean, that's how we're going to have to win games. We're going to have to win in the margins, like everybody in the Big Ten. And that third down, third phase and the kicking game, we've got to get that group to believe and buy into how important that is, and they've been great all spring. But that room is going to be really important in the kicking game.
On what he learned today…
I learned our fans are awesome. I mean, how about that? I mean, coming out, we've got the river flooding, roads closed, and a sunshiny day (laugh). They were awesome and we appreciate them more than anything. We wanted today to be a practice, and it was. I don't know how many total plays we got. Last time I heard we were somewhere around 80 or so, and I thought we had about 12 more minutes left, so we may have gotten 100 reps. It will be great to teach from, and again, in practice, there's so much flow that you have. I'm the happiest guy in the program right now because we walk out of today healthy. And that was obviously our number one goal, so I'm ecstatic about that.
On when the progression stops as the season gets closer…
Yeah, I think improvement is ongoing. That road is always under construction. I mean, all the way through, it will never stop. My last college game was against that kid named Peyton Manning. He turned out to be a pretty good player. You can figure out my last game, how that went with me on defense, and him at quarterback, but with that being said, he came and spoke to our quarterbacks at my last stop. He was going into his time at Denver, and he brought a couple of his notebooks. He brought a notebook from our game that we played against each other, and then he brought the notebook from the last game he played, like, he never stopped and that is our mindset. That's what (offensive coordinator) Nick (Sheridan) is talking to the guys about. That the road of improvement is always under construction, and we will be grinding all the way through. You never know when all the sudden it clicks for a guy. I learned a long time ago you never give up on a guy. You just keep coaching, keep coaching, keep coaching, keep coaching. But going back to your question, Bryson's (Bryson Williams) learning a new offense. Kind of being at one position now for the first time (wide receiver). There's just a lot going on and man, are we excited about him.
On if freshman have the chance to play in fall…
One hundred percent. I reserve the right to play the best 11 players in every single snap. I don't care how old you are, where you're from, none of that matters. We're going to do everything we can and that's going back to that theme of competitive depth. I want every guy walking out of here feeling like they can be the starter. What's more important is where their confidence is and we've got to get this group just as a team. We've got to harden our edge. We've got to get tougher and we have to get mentally tougher, but we've got to get more confidence and a little bit more swagger, and that's going to happen through preparation. It'll be in earnest when those guys come back. They're walking out of here with a workout plan for the next three weeks, four weeks. And we will be checking in to make sure that we're going where we need to go and how we need to do it, because when we come back, we're going to hit the ground running, and we're not going to kind of ease into it when the guys get back in June.
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