EAST LANSING ~ MSU Football Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan said the trend of transferring in college football gives overhauled teams an early-season advantage, and that players “have to be able to adjust and adapt.” The Spartans brought on 62 new players for the 2026 season, including 30 freshmen and 32 transfers. With a 110-player roster, newcomers make up over half the Spartan line, so the Spartans will run an almost all-new dynamic.
Sheridan told the media on Tuesday “I’m always trying to protect our football, but once you get later in the season, there’s film of that group playing that people can see.” Toledo has also undergone a roster rebuild with 52 new players, but 14 of those players followed Head Coach Mike Jacobs from Mercer. Studying the dynamics among those players “has been a bit more streamlined,” Sheridan said, with available film of those players in the same scheme.
Of MSU’s returning roster, many players have shifted positions in the depth chart. Alessio Millivojovic started last season as the backup quarterback but will start for the Spartans on Friday. He started only four games in 2025 and said that in this year’s preseason, he had “more time to practice as a starter,” he told the media on Tuesday.
Although the transfer era makes team dynamics difficult to predict, opponents sometimes have history as teammates. MSU safety Tre Bell did not directly overlap with Toledo wide receiver Rico Bond at Lindenwood, but their shared experience gives each player insight into the strategies and style of the other’s game. “I knew what kind of player Rico was,” Bell said on Tuesday about watching Bond’s film.
Sheridan explained that MSU is uncertain about group performance in games given the many newcomers, but he said “we’ll learn a lot about the group after the opener.” The Spartans will play Toledo in the season opener in East Lansing Sept. 8 at 8:00pm. 760 WJR’s tailgate coverage will start live from East Lansing at 6:30pm.
