Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic looks to throw during football practice on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Young MSU QB Separated Himself as Backup to Chiles

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Aug 3, 2025 4:45 PM ET

Michigan State has the luxury of returning its starting quarterback this season, an advantage that a lot of other Big Ten teams don't have.

But the Spartans did need to replace last season's backup quarterback, Tommy Schuster, and fortunately for them, ultimately, it wasn't a complicated decision.

"That was a conversation we had going into spring ball," Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said following the Spartans' first practice of fall camp on Tuesday. "It was about getting those guys reps and seeing what it looks like to see if maybe we needed to go get a veteran quarterback.

"But I thought Alessio (Milivojevic) had a great spring; he's our backup quarterback, we have a lot of confidence in him, he threw a lot of good balls today. He's really taken the step that he'd be the next man up. I want to be a place of development, and at the quarterback position, I think of the schemes, the reads, with more time you get with them, we'd love to be in a place where we are developing them with sitting a year or two. In this day and age, we'd love to do it."

Milivojevic is a sophomore from Naperville, Illinois, who the staff has trust in, despite his lack of experience at this level. In order to develop, though, a young quarterback does need in-game reps. What that looks like is to be determined.

"We're fired up about Alessio, man," offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said on Thursday. "Big arm, he's done a really nice job of picking up the offense. He's a really sharp guy and puts in the time, and yeah, I would feel really good about putting him in the game, and I think that's a conversation for Jon (Boyer), Coach Smith and I to sit down and have."

Chiles trusts his backup as well and had very high praise for him when he spoke on the young quarterback back in the spring.

"I think Alessio has grown a lot since last year," Chiles said. "I really love Alessio. God forbid anything happen to me, but if Alessio takes the reins, I think he could do it. I believe in Alessio 100 percent.

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