East Lansing — Jimmy Smith was absolutely gone. The five-time Pro Bowler with the Jacksonville Jaguars broke free on a go ball. He stretched out his hands, fingers gracing pigskin.
And then he dropped it.
That never happened, at least not frequently, for Detroit-born Smith in a 1999 season he led the NFL with 116 catches. But after four seasons catching passes from left-handed quarterback Mark Brunell — now quarterbacks coach with the Detroit Lions — Smith was trying to catch a pass from right-handed quarterback Jay Fiedler. Different hands throw the ball a different way.
“It curls a different way. It spins a different way,” said John McNulty, who coached with Jacksonville from 1998 to 2002 as part of a 35-year coaching career that has taken him to 14 different stops, counting his current gig as quarterbacks coach for Michigan State. He was hired in February after Mike Bajakian left two months into his tenure with Pat Fitzgerald’s first MSU staff for a job with the Cleveland Browns.
McNulty has seen a lot in his day, and yes that includes a left-handed quarterback like Michigan State backup Cam Fancher. But handedness is the least of McNulty’s worries when it comes to his players. Don’t overthink it.
“It’s weird, I’ll try to demonstrate something for them, and then I’ll be like, ‘OK, hang on. Let me do it as a righty first, and then I’ll try to do it as a lefty.’” McNulty said. “But you know what I’m saying? Like, it is weird. But that’s the only thing I think is a little bit different.”
Alessio Milivojevic is the clear QB1 for the Spartans after starting the final four games of last season and throwing for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year amid a 4-8 season. Fancher, after three stops including Florida Atlantic and Central Florida, is a veteran backup. Leo Hannan is the apparent third-string and Kayd Coffman, freshman, is learning the ropes.
A settled hierarchy, at least on top, helps assuage some of the rifts that a position battle can cause. It helps Milivojevic is a tireless worker who McNulty says has “exceeded any expectations” as a leader.
“I think it’s always good for the team to have that kind of vision of that’s the guy that’s leading us here,” McNulty said. “… Could there be a role for Cam? Certainly, you know, the guy’s got a different skill set. Leo and Kayd, they’re close with ‘Less, they’re very supportive there. I think they know at any point in this business, they could be the next guy up.”
For the wider offense, there may be different plays run for a right-handed quarterback versus the left-handed Fancher, if he comes into a game. At least that’s what offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, who overlapped with McNulty recently at Alabama, suggested.
“There’s certainly certain plays that you would favor the quarterback’s hand,” said Sheridan, who coached the Atlanta Falcons’ southpaw Michael Penix Jr. at Indiana and Washington. “But other than that — and fortunately, I’ve had experience coaching left-hander — it doesn’t alter it that much.”
Sheridan offense comes with plenty of love for tight ends
Sheridan’s offense is all about putting positionless playmakers in position to make plays. And yes, that includes the big tight ends who can wreck a game in multiple ways.
Michigan State lost its top two tight ends, Michael Masunas (transfer) and Jack Velling (graduation), but tight ends coach Brian Wozniak is working with a dynamic group this spring.
Ferris State transfer Carson Gulker is a multitool player who can run, throw, block and catch — the kind of guy you read about from football’s antiquity. Brennan Parachek is a physical blocker, as is Kai Rios. Jayden Savoury flashed potential as a dynamic athlete while redshirting last season. And freshman Eddie Whiting, 6-foot-6 from the plains of South Dakota, is a hard-to-miss target already making an impression 14 practices into spring ball.
There are a lot of ways to mix and match those personnel, and it helps to do so that Sheridan once coached the position group himself.
“He understands that position really well,” Wozniak said. “He won’t ever say it, but he’s biased towards that position, similar to me, you know. I played it, I coach it, and I’m biased towards it. So you see enough 12 (personnel) out there, that makes you pretty fired up as a young tight end to see that run around.”
Wozniak and wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins were holdovers from the previous staff who stayed in East Lansing. For Wozniak, a great deal had to do with his family, but it also had to do with Fitzgerald, who once recruited Wozniak before he sided with Wisconsin.
“Being able to work with him is exciting. Being able to stay in the Big Ten is absolutely exciting,” Wozniak said. “To stay in Michigan, we love it here. Family was stoked.”
And getting to work with this group of tight ends? A blast, because a lot of young and underutilized talent has made big strides in the spring.
“What’s fun about this group is the opportunity of growth is huge,” Wozniak said. “That’s what’s been fun about the room this spring is just every practice, it’s like, man, we made huge gains here.”
In Sheridan’s offense, Wozniak tells his players they can’t be one-trick ponies. They’ll block the C gap and stretch the field on passing plays. It helps to have a player like Gulker, who could even throw if necessary.
“We’re trying to make the DC’s brain spin a little bit,” Wozniak said.
Special teams, defense or all of the above, DB Majeed says ‘put me in, Coach’
Harlon Barnett recruited Khalil Majeed as a walk-on in the class of 2021 — and he hadn’t been on the football field in two seasons.
You see, a torn ACL wiped out his junior year, and the defensive back who also played lacrosse lost his senior season to the pandemic. He had a little bit of practice tape, but Barnett mostly looked over 10th grade film.
When Majeed took the field for a kickoff in the 2021 Peach Bowl, that was his first real play in more than two seasons. He redshirted that year before appearing in 13 games combined in 2022 and 2023. He stayed through the coaching change to Jonathan Smith, then tore his MCL in the 2024 season opener against Florida Atlantic. Last season, he played 86 snaps on defense and 162 on special teams in his first 12-game season. Then he went through another coaching change.
Safe to say he’s due for some good luck?
“I do feel like I’m due for good luck, but it’s whatever God has planned for me,” Majeed said.
In his sixth season at Michigan State, Majeed stood behind a podium as an elder statesman. He’s got his degree in criminal justice and is finishing a master’s in cybersecurity. Barnett is now at Northwestern. Fitzgerald, the former face of that program, is now at Michigan State. And Majeed says he wasn’t going anywhere amid all the changes.
“People in this program have shown me love,” Majeed said. “So there’s no point in running.”
Majeed is repping a little bit at nickelback this spring, where transfer Michael Richard is the presumed starter and redshirt freshman Deuce Edwards is in the mix. Majeed understands that at this stage in his career, his major impact may be on special teams. He’s ready for that.
“It’s a very useful feeling,” Majeed said. “So I feel like I can play anywhere on special teams, offense or defense. Honestly, just put me in, Coach.”
So far, Majeed has played strong end on punts, and he plans to play on both sides of kicks and punts. Wherever he can be useful, to a place that has stuck with him.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State football: Lefty QB no big deal to John McNulty
Reporting by Connor Earegood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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