Why Fitzgerald, Milivojevic Mesh Well at Michigan State

Alessio Milivojevic passed his audition to become Fitzgerald's QB1 in 2026 last fall. Fitzgerald was in attendance for Milivojevic's third start out of four at Iowa. Milivojevic threw for 255 yards, two touchdowns, and one pretty inconsequential interception that day while facing a hostile crowd. The then-redshirt freshman's toughness is what sold Fitzgerald on him, though.

"He got his lips absolutely freaking knocked off [against Iowa in Kinnick]," Fitzgerald said. "And the kid kept getting up and getting up and getting up and getting up."

Milivojevic was only sacked twice that day, though Pro Football Focus says that Milivojevic was hit four total times, hurried 11 times, and pressured 16 times across 45 total dropbacks and 42 pass attempts.

"I know exactly the play he's talking about -- 15-yard penalty, by the way," Milivojevic said. "My mouth may have been bleeding. I may have been coughing up blood. But yeah, I think it's very cool to hear a guy who's been through the Big Ten many, many years as a head coach talk about you like that. Now, with him being my head coach, I can show him in person how I am a tough guy, and I appreciate, obviously, every compliment he's given me."

The two of them had already been on each other's radar for a little bit. Milivojevic took an unofficial visit to Northwestern while Fitzgerald was the coach there and met him briefly. He's also from Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, where he quarterbacked St. Francis High School. Fitzgerald eventually volunteered at nearby Loyola Academy.

Both of them were never that far away from one another. The paths just maybe weren't supposed to intersect in East Lansing. Fitzgerald was a Northwestern lifer before he was fired by the Wildcats, and Milivojevic was days away from signing with Ball State before the newly hired Jonathan Smith staff came in and added him to the Spartans' 2024 recruiting class.

Continued Gelling Between Fitzgerald, Milivojevic

The learning curve for Milivojevic as the QB1 wasn't all that steep. Fitzgerald made it clear during the winter and spring, and at Big Ten Media Days, that Milivojevic was highly involved in recruiting while Michigan State was looking at prospects in the transfer portal.

"He's our unequivocal team leader," Fitzgerald said during the televised portion of his availability. "He met with every player that we brought on campus during the portal, and it was twofold. He's smart enough to get a free meal, and number two, also a great leader to get to know the guys that we're trying to bring in. But he's just got all the leadership skills that you're looking for, that 'it' factor, and we're excited for him to lead our football team this year."

Milivojevic says that those four starts he received at the tail end of the 2025 season were a big help for him. He wasn't the QB1 on a permanent basis like he is now, but that live experience really does matter.

"Last year's experience kind of just gave me something to build off," Milivojevic said. "Those eight games, I got in sporadically: maybe a random drive in the second quarter, or like two plays in the second quarter, or a random drive at the end of a game."

"But I think now that I've got those four games of starting, and feeling the highs and lows, the halftimes, everything, every part of the game, it really allows me to really understand what it takes to win a Big Ten football game. It takes a lot; it takes a lot. So now that I know what it takes, I think it's going to allow me to build on it this next year."

The ceiling is very high for Milivojevic. He's got three years of eligibility left, and his 986 yards with seven touchdowns to just two picks across his four starts last year is the type of production at quarterback that Michigan State would love to see. Milivojevic also says he's in East Lansing for the long haul.

"This is exactly where I want to be," he said. "I really, honestly, I have no plans of leaving. I wanna finish my career here. I have two more seasons after this one... as long as I'm in college, I wanna be at Michigan State."