Michigan State welcomes recruiting visitors for its second scrimmage

The Michigan State football program hosted a large contingent of recruits for its second scrimmage of the spring in the new era of leadership in East Lansing under head coach Jonathan Smith.

The prospects had the opportunity to watch the Spartans compete and see how Michigan State's coaches lead their players through practice drills and live scrimmage reps.

This time, the recruits were able to take in the sights and the sounds of the scrimmage at Spartan Stadium, where the potential future Michigan State stars were able to experience a unique opportunity and get the feel for the big-ticket Power Four environment.

Prospects were able to see how the program operates and envision what it could be like to wear the Green and White and suit up for the Spartans in the future at MSU's 75,000-seat Big Ten cathedral.

After finishing up with their visits, Spartans Illustrated caught up with several prospects who were in East Lansing to collect their exclusive reactions on their big Saturday visits to campus. The recruits provided intel on what they were able to see and do on the trip and gave their thoughts on what Smith is building at Michigan State as the Spartans prepare for the Spring Showcase on April 20 and begin to gear up for a highly-anticipated 2024 season in a new-look, 18-team super conference that promises to kick off a new era of excellence for the Big Ten.

Spartans Illustrated spoke with the dual-threat quarterback combo of Anthony Coellner — a 6-foot-2, 195-pound class of 2026 three-star of Carmel, Indiana — and Bryce Backus — an exciting, early, 6-foot-3, 185-pound in-state prospect of Caledonia, Michigan from the class of 2027. Backus' recruitment is just beginning to develop.

We also caught up with 2025 offensive lineman Cam Clark. Read below for our full conversations with those players:

Coellner is one of the rising quarterback prospects of the 2026 class. He currently has scholarship offers from Indiana, Troy, Cincinnati, Maryland, West Virginia and Miami (Ohio).

Coellner was in East Lansing this past weekend, and a great visit with Michigan State.

"The visit was great," Coellner excitedly said. "We got to tour the facilities, and then watch the practice in the stadium, which was pretty cool. Afterward, I got the chance to speak with (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) Brian Lindgren and (offensive analyst) Aaron Pflugrad, which is always great."

Coellner admired the way Coach Lindgren and the rest of the Spartans' staff led players through the drills, practice and the scrimmage."

"I loved getting to watch the coaches coach in a game-like environment (in the scrimmage) and loved their energy and feedback to their players throughout practice. Overall, I thought it was a very well-run practice."

One thing special that stood out about Michigan State's program "was how connected the coaching staff was," Coellner told Spartans Illustrated.

The quarterback the Spartans could end up offering in the future from their border state recruiting territory sees a bright future for Michigan State under Smith — the head coach who led a lower-budget Oregon State program to success in a Pac-12 Conference that was crowded with competitors like USC, Oregon and Washington (all three of those schools, in addition to UCLA, will join the Big Ten in 2024).

"Coach Smith is building something special at Michigan State, and it feels like everyone is bought in," Coellner said. "I can't wait to be back soon!"

Still early in Backus' recruitment, the local product hailing from just west of East Lansing (Caledonia) in the Grand Rapids area has great size for a rising soon-to-be sophomore at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, and the player has a special connection to the major program just in his backyard, via his mother, who attended Michigan State.

"Well, my (mother) went to Michigan State, and I grew up an MSU fan," Backus explained. "So it was kind of crazy (to visit). I'm hoping Coach Smith can get (MSU) back to contending like when Coach (Mark) Dantonio was here."

The local quarterback recorded 1,302 yards and 16 touchdowns on a 65.1% completion rate in 2023. He also carried the ball for a whopping 351 yards and four touchdowns on an average of 7.16 yards per carry as a high school freshman.

Backus not only grew up a Spartan fan, but you can also count him as a supporter of how Smith led his program through the practice overall in the short time he was able to check in with the alma mater of his mother.

"I love the amount of energy he and his staff put into these guys," Backus said about Smith. "It was very uptempo and fast-paced, including the music. They were coaching up the players on the sidelines."

Clark, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive lineman, made the 56-mile trek from Dexter to East Lansing to check out Smith and the Spartans' football operation this past weekend. He kept it short and sweet with Spartans Illustrated when asked about his visit to campus this weekend.

"Intensity" is the key word for Clark.

"It was good," he said. "I liked the intensity at practice."

Michigan State will have its hands full with signing day rolls around if position coach Jim Michalczik decides to extend an offer to Clark. The offensive tackle has tendered 16 offers total, including from big-name, Power Four programs like Cincinnati, Kentucky, Minnesota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and others.

Clark, who returned to MSU's campus for the first time since Feb. 3, is also drawing interest from longtime traditional conference rival Penn State.

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