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Michigan State's Jace Clarizio, center, listens to coaches after a drill during football practice on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This Michigan State Freshman RB Has Lots of Potential

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 1:00 PM ET

It might be a season or two before he sees a lot of carries, but there is certainly reason to believe that freshman running back Jace Clarizio could be one of the keys to a successful future for Michigan State.

Throughout MSU's history, successful seasons have very often coincided with great and/or elite running backs; Kenneth Walker III, LJ Scott, and Jeremy Langford being some of the more recent examples.

There's reason to believe that Clarizio has the potential to become one of the next great running backs for MSU. Head coach Jonathan Smith has been complimentary of Clarizio's development early on in his college career, though.

"I think Jace is carrying it, learning more and more of the physical brand of carrying the football, not just using his skill set," Smith said a couple weeks ago. "I think he's grown. Had a couple good carries of just putting his foot in the ground and getting four or five (yards) when early in camp he was apt to bounce it (outside)."

"He's a true freshman, and he's going to make mistakes and things are going to come up, but I've had that before, but I'm excited," said running backs coach Keith Bhonapha during fall camp. "It's a high ceiling for that kid from the athletic standpoint. Now, it's just getting into the day-to-day of being the best football player."

Clarizio's time may not come in 2025, as Brandon Tullis and Makhi Frazier seem likely to be the team's top two backs, but it certainly could be there in the future.

Here's why:

Local Kid

One thing that certainly helps Clarizio's chances of succeeding in East Lansing is the fact that he's from, well, East Lansing.

Clarizio had about as successful a high school career as one could have while playing for the Trojans of East Lansing High School. As a senior last fall, he rushed for 1,679 yards and 28 touchdowns while leading his team to the Division II semifinals. He received first-team all-state honors after both the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Another plus is that Clarizio is a Spartan legacy. He is the son of former MSU running back and defensive back Craig Johnson, who was a member of the 1987 MSU team that won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl.

Impressive Offer List

Another green flag is the other programs that were vying for Clarizio's services during his high school recruitment. As a four-star recruit by ESPN and rated as the top running back in Michigan for the class of 2025 by all four recruiting sites (247Sports, On3, Rivals, ESPN), one would expect some big-name schools to come calling, and they certainly did.

MSU's main competition for Clarizio ended up being Alabama. The Crimson Tide and former MSU offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic recruited Clarizio pretty hard late in his recruitment, and there was actually a time where the SEC powerhouse was successful.

Clarizio decommitted from MSU and flipped to Alabama, but then flipped back to MSU roughly and signed about a week later on the first day of the early signing period.

Other notable schools that reportedly offered Clarizio include USC, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Boston College, Iowa State, Pitt, Louisville and Kansas.

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