EAST LANSING ~ Michigan State football players selected six captains for the 2026 season: three newcomers, two returning Spartans, and one consecutive-season captain.
Senior linebacker Jordan Hall, one of five captains in 2025, renewed that role for the coming season. Hall has remained committed to MSU through his college career despite the growing trend of transferring, and he now enters his final year under his third head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, after previously playing for Johnathon Smith and Mel Tucker. As the only returning captain of six, Hall’s experience is expected to shape the leadership approach of the entire group–a leader of leaders.
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(CONTINUED) Two other captains are familiar faces in East Lansing. Fifth-year safety Nikai Martinez and redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic return as veteran Spartans, only now stepping into official leadership. Their leadership gives MSU continuity on both sides of the ball as Fitzgerald’s first season begins.
The three remaining captains, junior punter Rhys Dakin, fifth-year center Trent Fraley, and fifth-year edge Kenny Soares Jr., are first-year Spartans awarded the captain title. Each of the newcomers established themselves as reliable players at previous schools. Dakin pinned 43% of his punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line at Iowa last season, and Fraley allowed just one sack in 825 pass-blocking snaps at North Dakota State, accomplishments that quickly translated to trust among new teammates. Soares brings a prior connection to Fitzgerald, having played for him at Northwestern in 2022, though leadership decisions were made independently by teammates. Teammates had already voted Soares to wear the No. 1 jersey before camp.
The promotion of these newcomers underscores the program’s ability and willingness to integrate new leadership. Whether Fitzgerald and new AD Dan Bartholomae have made such an impact on MSU athletics as these players have made on their team will become clearer when the Spartans open the season against Toledo on Friday, Sept. 7.
