Class of 2026 high-three-star Michigan State quarterback commit Kayd Coffman traveled to Ohio on Sunday to compete in an Elite 11 Regional event.

Coffman impressed media members, coaches and spectators alike with his performance. However, Coffman ultimately didn’t receive the automatic invite to the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles. Only one participant earned the "Golden Ticket" to L.A., as four-star signal-caller and Louisville commit Briggs Cherry received the honor. It was a close race between Briggs and Coffman, as Coffman was expected by many of the media members in attendance to potentially earn MVP accolades after his strong showing and get the automatic bid. He could still earn an invite to the Finals later, after his performance is reviewed, though.

Greg Smith, the Midwest analyst for Rivals, was at Massillon Washington High School on Sunday to watch and report the action from the competition. Smith spoke with Coffman to get his thoughts on his performance and to catch up about how things are going in MSU's 2026 recruiting class.

"I've (always) wanted to be here," Coffman said about the Elite 11 competition. "I've watched it on YouTube a ton — just obviously see the lineage of quarterbacks that come here. I just wanted to come out here and compete. I think I did really well and showed what I do, how I operate. And it sucks I didn't get an (automatic) invite (to Elite 11), but I'll kind of just ride with it and see if I get a call later on."

Not taking anything away from Cherry's standout performance, count Smith as one of the media members in attendance who believed Coffman made a strong case to earn the automatic invite to the Elite 11 Finals.

Smith provided his thoughts and analysis on what he saw from Coffman on Sunday.

"Coffman (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) was certainly one of the best quarterbacks at the event on Sunday," Smith said. "He’s got a frame that is still filling out, so I expect him to put on good weight after arriving in East Lansing.

"Going into the event I wanted to see how Coffman performed in a setting that maybe isn’t best suited for his game. He more than held his own throwing the ball with velocity and accuracy. But it’s easy to see that his skills shine when he’s able to throw on the run. Coffman also did well during the simulated RPO drill.

"The gathered media and coaches for the event were buzzing about his potential. The Spartans did such a great job landing him early."