Michigan State’s football overhaul may finally come with real financial muscle behind it.
Pat Fitzgerald’s first season in East Lansing has not gone according to plan, but the bigger story for the Spartans is what comes next. After years of lagging behind the Big Ten’s biggest spenders, Michigan State appears ready to make a major push to catch up.
New athletic director Dan Bartholomae already laid out the direction, saying he wanted Michigan State to spend in the top half of the Big Ten on the football roster and eventually climb into the top third. That’s a significant shift for a program that was valued as the 10th highest-spending team in the conference - a place that simply hasn’t been good enough, especially with Ohio State, Oregon, USC, and Indiana spending nearly double.
Now there’s a more optimistic number floating around. Justin Spiro reported on Locked On Spartans with Matt Sheehan that Michigan State is planning to spend in the “high-30s” this offseason. If that holds, the Spartans would be in the top-five conversation in Big Ten spending, alongside Ohio State, USC, Michigan, and Indiana.
That kind of jump would be a major signal that the program is serious about building a roster that can actually compete.
Michigan State’s recent results have made the point pretty clearly. The Spartans have not been spending enough to keep pace, and the return on that gap has been ugly: no bowl berths in five years.
The next step has to be more than just a louder promise. It has to show up in the portal and on the field.
If Michigan State really is operating in that high-$30 million range, Fitzgerald should have room to go after help at running back, receiver, along the offensive line, and across the defense. He could even look at quarterback if he wants another open competition there.
The expectation now is simple: the money has to produce wins, and it has to do it fast. A higher-ranked portal class alone won’t be enough. With this kind of spending, making a bowl game should be the bare minimum next season.
For Spartan fans who’ve waited years for the school to put football in this kind of position, the message is clear. The resources are finally coming.
In Other News...
Michigan State Just Got A New Reason To Circle Oregon
Oregons midseason shakeup adds another layer to a matchup Michigan State already had circled. Dan Lanning moved on from his offensive coordinator after the loss to Illinois, and the Ducks have now turned to former Spartans coordinator Jay Johnson in that role on a temporary basis. For Michigan State, it is the kind of storyline that makes a late-season trip a little more personal, because the staff on the other sideline now includes a familiar face from East Lansing.
The timing matters, too, because Oregon is trying to steady itself after a rough stretch that has included three losses and the season-ending injury to quarterback Dante Moore. Johnson stepping in gives the Ducks a different look offensively at a moment when they need answers fast, and Michigan State will get a chance to see how that transition settles in before it plays out on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Velling Reignites A Familiar Michigan State What-Might-Have Debate
Jack Vellings NFL path has already taken a familiar turn for Michigan State fans who remember the promise and the inconsistency from his two seasons in East Lansing. The undrafted rookie tight end landed with the Falcons after the preseason, only to be released, leaving him back in the market for another practice-squad opportunity as he tries to keep his pro career moving.
For Spartans followers, Velling is one of those players who naturally triggers the what-might-have-been conversation. His college stint offered flashes without fully settling into the kind of breakout run that changes a programs view of a player, and now his next stop will say plenty about whether there is still untapped NFL value waiting to be found. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Gets One Last Chance To Salvage A Lost Season
Michigan State heads into its bye week carrying a six-game losing streak, and the timing feels more like a pause than a reset. The Spartans have dealt with injuries and a steady run of losses, leaving little room for optimism as they finally get a chance to step back and regroup in Week 9.
Still, the schedule does offer one last path to make the year look less bleak. Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Rutgers are still ahead, and there are enough winnable opportunities in that stretch to improve the record before the season runs out. The extra rest should help, but it may arrive too late to truly change the feel of what has already become a difficult season. [Read more 🡒]