It's been a strong offseason for class of 2026 Michigan State quarterback commit Kayd Coffman. After an impressive performance at the Elite 11 Regional in Ohio and then earning MVP honors at the Under Armour Next Ohio Camp during the month of April, Coffman caught the eye of Rivals' evaluators and is moving up in the rankings.
On Monday, Coffman received a fourth star and was placed in the prestigious Rivals250. He now checks in as the No. 6 recruit in the state of Michigan, No. 20 quarterback and No. 235 prospect in the country in the 2026 cycle.
Still, Coffman remains humble and has bigger goals in mind.
"It’s cool, but I’m not a guy that looks for outside validation," Coffman told Spartans Illustrated about his four-star status. "I’m not living and dying by what people say about me. Just finally some people are opening their eyes a little bit."
The East Kentwood High School (Kentwood, Michigan) signal-caller pledged to the Spartans in February, despite interest from various college programs starting to pick up.
Greg Smith, the Midwest analyst for Rivals, has watched Coffman perform live at multiple events throughout the offseason and pushed to give Coffman a fourth star.
"Coffman (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) was certainly one of the best quarterbacks at the event" Smith said after the Elite 11 event on April 13. "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."
Michigan State was not the only program pursuing Coffman. He has received scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Duke, Iowa State, Mississippi, Syracuse, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.
Most recently, Ohio State has been in contact with Coffman and the Buckeyes are monitoring. While OSU is yet to offer, head coach Ryan Day got a close look at Coffman during the Elite 11 and Under Armour camp events in April in which his son, 2027 quarterback RJ Day, participated in. The Buckeyes recently also came to Coffman's school to watch him throw, and he visited the Ohio State campus while he was in town prior to the Under Armour Next camp on April 27.
While Ohio State getting involved certainly could make things tough for the Spartans in the future, Coffman is adamant that he is fully locked in with the Spartans as things currently stand. He has made multiple visits to East Lansing since his commitment (and of course before his commitment) and Michigan State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer visited Coffman at East Kentwood last week.
He believes in the vision for the program that head coach Jonathan Smith has, and Coffman loves his fit in the Michigan State offense. Coffman has been hard at work recruiting other 2026 prospects to join MSU as well.
Coffman is expected to take his official visit to Michigan State during the weekend of June 20 through June 22, and will likely get back to the East Lansing campus multiple times before that as well.
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