Michigan State's Nick Sharpe, center, runs a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad looks on during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad and the team walk across the end zone during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Cam Edwards runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Alessio Milivojevic wars up before the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Cam Fancher warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kayd Coffman warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Charles Taplin catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr. catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Bryson Williams catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Atticus Carridine caches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi talks with staff during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Charles Taplin catches a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Conner Moore, left, blocks Eli Coenen during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Cam Fancher, right, hands the ball off to Marvis Parrish during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Marvis Parrish runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan talks with the team during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad and the Spartans takes the field during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Brandon Tullis catches a pass in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Brady Pretzlaff, left, and Caleb Wheatland participate in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Trent Fraley prepares to snap the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Darrin Jones Jr. runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's band performs during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kai Rios runs after a catch in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State basketball's Coen Carr takes photos during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Leo Hannan throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Zach Washington runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Alex Weeks punts the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Alessio Milivojevic, center, throws a pass to Brennan Parachek during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Andrew Brinson IV CB Bryson Williams, center, tries to pull in a catch as Tyran Chappell, left, defends during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Cam Edwards runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Derrick Simmons, top, stops Cam Fancher during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Liam Boyd kicks a field goal during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Chrishon McCray runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Jordan Hall, right, stops Kai Rios after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Marvis Parrish runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Alessio Milivojevic throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Charles Brantley, center, celebrates after a play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi calls out to the defense during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Max Bullough, center, talks with the team during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Leo Hannan throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr., center, runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's NiJhay Burt, center, intercepts a pass intended for Charles Taplin, left, during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's NiJhay Burt, left, celebrates his interception with Nikai Martinez during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Aveon Grose intercepts the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Aveon Grose celebrates after an interception during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kai Rios, right, catches the ball as Adam Shaw closes in during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kayd Coffman throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kenneth Williams, left, celebrates a touchdown run with Nick Sharpe during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kenneth Williams, center, takes a handoff from Cam Fancher during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Cam Fancher throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr., left, nearly caches a touchdown pass as Deuce Edwards break up the play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Carlos Hazelwood, left, and Evan Young celebrate after a play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kenny Soares Jr. spins around a bat while competing in a relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kenny Soares Jr. eats a hotdog while competing in a relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's Kenny Soares Jr., center, celebrates after winning the bat spin relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad addresses the team at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State sings the fight song at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.Michigan State sings the fight song at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.1 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Nick Sharpe, center, runs a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.1 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Nick Sharpe, center, runs a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.2 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad looks on during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.3 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad and the team walk across the end zone during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.4 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Cam Edwards runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.5 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Alessio Milivojevic wars up before the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.6 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Cam Fancher warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.7 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kayd Coffman warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.8 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Charles Taplin catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.9 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr. catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.10 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Bryson Williams catches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.11 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Atticus Carridine caches a pass while warming up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.12 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State warms up during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.13 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi talks with staff during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.14 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Charles Taplin catches a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.15 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Conner Moore, left, blocks Eli Coenen during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.16 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Cam Fancher, right, hands the ball off to Marvis Parrish during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.17 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Marvis Parrish runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.18 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan talks with the team during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.19 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad and the Spartans takes the field during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.20 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Brandon Tullis catches a pass in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.21 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Brady Pretzlaff, left, and Caleb Wheatland participate in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.22 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Trent Fraley prepares to snap the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.23 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Darrin Jones Jr. runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.24 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's band performs during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.25 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kai Rios runs after a catch in a drill during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.26 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State basketball's Coen Carr takes photos during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.27 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Leo Hannan throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.28 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Zach Washington runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.29 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Alex Weeks punts the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.30 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Alessio Milivojevic, center, throws a pass to Brennan Parachek during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.31 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Andrew Brinson IV CB Bryson Williams, center, tries to pull in a catch as Tyran Chappell, left, defends during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.32 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Cam Edwards runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.33 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Derrick Simmons, top, stops Cam Fancher during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.34 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Liam Boyd kicks a field goal during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.35 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Chrishon McCray runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.36 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Jordan Hall, right, stops Kai Rios after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.37 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Marvis Parrish runs the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.38 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Alessio Milivojevic throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.39 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Charles Brantley, center, celebrates after a play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.40 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi calls out to the defense during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.41 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Max Bullough, center, talks with the team during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.42 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Leo Hannan throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.43 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr., center, runs after a catch during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.44 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's NiJhay Burt, center, intercepts a pass intended for Charles Taplin, left, during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.45 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's NiJhay Burt, left, celebrates his interception with Nikai Martinez during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.46 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Aveon Grose intercepts the ball during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.47 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Aveon Grose celebrates after an interception during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.48 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kai Rios, right, catches the ball as Adam Shaw closes in during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.49 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kayd Coffman throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.50 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kenneth Williams, left, celebrates a touchdown run with Nick Sharpe during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.51 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kenneth Williams, center, takes a handoff from Cam Fancher during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.52 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Cam Fancher throws a pass during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.53 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Rodney Bullard Jr., left, nearly caches a touchdown pass as Deuce Edwards break up the play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.54 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Carlos Hazelwood, left, and Evan Young celebrate after a play during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.55 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kenny Soares Jr. spins around a bat while competing in a relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.56 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kenny Soares Jr. eats a hotdog while competing in a relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.57 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's Kenny Soares Jr., center, celebrates after winning the bat spin relay hotdog eating competition at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.58 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerlad addresses the team at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.59 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State sings the fight song at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.60 / 60MSU football’s Spring Showcase: Photos from Spartan StadiumMichigan State sings the fight song at the end of the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.EAST LANSING — There Alessio Milivojevic stood at a junior day event for Northwestern’s football team. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald came up to him and shook the Wheaton St. Francis quarterback’s hand. Little did they know that handshake was the foreshadow of what was to come just a few wild years later.

After Jonathan Smith’s staff flipped Milivojevic right before signing day in 2023, and after Smith’s firing ushered Fitzgerald back to the sidelines, now at Michigan State, in December, the two are at the forefront of Michigan State’s rebuild after four losing seasons.

“It’s really crazy. Really crazy,” Milivojevic said.

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A couple of Chicago guys, and that won’t change in the future at Michigan State, because Fitzgerald plans to recruit the area frequently alongside the other fertile grounds his mentor and Spartan icon, Mark Dantonio, used to harvest.

“Developing players, developing a program, developing recruiting is all about relationships,” Fitzgerald said Feb. 4. “And I think it’s huge. It’s going to be an area, again, when we leave the state of Michigan, we’re going to be in Ohio. We’re going to be in Indiana, be in Pennsylvania, we’re going to be in Illinois, focused in Chicago. And the reception was awesome in all those areas.”

Homecomings, in a way, for both Fitzgerald and Michigan State.

“When I was in Cleveland, one of the coaches said to me, where you been? And I said, high school,” Fitzgerald said. “No, he goes, where's the Spartans been?”

Fitzgerald’s years in the Big Ten as a player, assistant and head coach give him plenty of connections around the Midwest. Nowhere is he more connected than Chicago. Even Milivojevic knew that growing up.

“Being from the Chicago area, everyone knows who Coach Fitz is,” the quarterback said. “He’s pretty renowned around there. So everyone has great things to say.”

From 2006 to 2023 before his firing amid a hazing scandal (he settled a lawsuit for wrongful termination out of court), Fitzgerald recruited 428 freshmen. And 108 of them came from Illinois with a focus on Chicago. Seven of those players came from Loyola Academy alone, where he spent the past three seasons as an offensive analyst helping a new coach, Beau Desherow, set up his program after years as an assistant under John Holocek.

“I had heard, I think through mutual friends, that he might be interested in volunteering, and he actually called me and asked if I could use his help,” Desherow told The Detroit News. “And you know, this is my 22nd year at Loyola, but that first year was my first year as head coach, and I definitely welcomed the opportunity to have him come help us out.”

Fitzgerald jumped right in to coach the scout team offense — “the least glamorous role” says Desherow — and immediately gelled with the players. Two of them were his sons, so yeah there was some familiarity there. But Fitzgerald also gave a “master class in football” whenever asked by his fellow coaches. He just stayed busy, even unloading trailers of equipment and picking up trash on the sidelines.

“Just a very humble person, you know, just kind of a salt-of-the-earth type of guy,” Desherow said. “His passion for the game of football and his passion for educating young people through the game of football is second to none. I’ve never been around someone that has his energy, it’s infectious.”

“If you’re going to go on a sabbatical and you get the opportunity to be with two of your boys,” Fitzgerald said at his introductory press conference in December, “while they go through back-to-back state championships. One is a quarterback, goes 25-1, and all those kids, it was awesome. I became a much better teacher.”

And every game Loyola Academy played, Fitzgerald ran into someone he knew. Whether that was conference games or playoff runs during back-to-back 8A Illinois state championships.

“He knew every single head coach and had some form of relationship with those coaches,” Desherow said. “And it was just really remarkable to see just his recall on kids — maybe kids that he didn't even recruit or maybe he did recruit, or kids that he had.”

Fitzgerald only had a few short weeks in December and early January to finish early signing day, put together his coaching staff, handle the transfer portal and start recruiting players for the next cycle. And when he got to step four, he started back in familiar stomping grounds in Chicago.

One of his early targets was quarterback Israel Abrams, who committed to Miami (Florida) earlier this month. Fitzgerald went to Montini Catholic himself to make the connection at a program he’d picked up five commitments from in the past.

“One of the interesting things about that is only one of them was offered a scholarship out of high school, and four of them walked on and subsequently earned scholarship,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky told The Detroit News. “So his word has always been golden to us, and he's just a high-character person, and I think he's one of the better guys in this game, to be honest with you.”