Michigan State wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. enters his fifth year in East Lansing with a new number and a renewed sense of energy. He will wear No. 3 on his jersey in 2024 after wearing No. 83 during his four first seasons at MSU.
Foster, who opted to return to MSU for his final season of college eligibility, is looking to take on more of a leadership role as a fifth-year senior. He'll need to do so not only in the wide receivers room, with the departure of team leader Tre Mosley (who is pursuing the NFL Draft), but for the team as a whole.
He also has a great opportunity to be the Spartans' No. 1 wide receiver in 2024. In fact, Foster lead Michigan State in receptions with 43 and receiving yards with 576 in 2023, while also tying for the team-lead in touchdown catches last season with three. All of those numbers were career-highs for the Ohio native.
In 40 career games played, Foster has recorded 60 receptions for 816 yards (13.6 yards per catch) and five touchdowns.
He is looking forward to being one of the top targets in the passing game, but Foster is most excited about being able to help his teammates along in their progression.
"It's very exciting," Foster said on Tuesday when asked about having an opportunity to make plays for his team in 2024. "I just can't wait to bring everybody up together, for sure. And just being more of a vocal leader, too, that's kind of my role this year. I just can't wait to do that."
So why did Foster decide to return to Michigan State in 2024? After a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw the Spartans go 4-8 under the previous regime, Foster didn't feel like the job was finished.
"I just really wasn't satisfied with last season," Foster said when asked why he chose to return to East Lansing for a fifth season. "Going through that, I didn't want to leave the fans and definitely the town of East Lansing — I love it here, my family loves it here, they come to the games all the time — so I didn't want to leave this special place, it's really special to my heart, and that's really why I came back."
With an almost entirely new coaching staff, led by head coach Jonathan Smith, Foster did admit that it was a little bit "complicated" deciding to come back to MSU in the midst of a coaching change, but he still felt that East Lansing was the right place for him. However, it also didn't take very long for Foster to form a strong bond with the new coaches.
Michigan State kicked off its first spring practice of 2024 on Tuesday. Foster likes the way things are headed under the new regime.
Foster noted that the energy level was high during the first spring practice and that there were "a lot of dudes flying around." He also said that there was "a lot of trash talk" during the first spring session. He was impressed by the staff's attention to detail as well.
"It's been great," Foster said about working with the new coaching staff, following practice on Tuesday. "Definitely a new regime, a new culture they're trying to build here, so it's definitely been fun. In my mind, I feel like we did need (a reset). We just needed somebody new in here, just to build a new culture, and just to be able to take that next step and kind of build a better program."
Foster has enjoyed working with Smith, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren and the other new coaches thus far.
"He definitely brings a different regime," Foster said about Smith. "It's different concepts, with the offensive schemes and stuff like that, it's definitely fun. Just being in that (offensive) system, (gives the wide receivers the opportunity) to make big plays down the field. It's definitely been a great experience so far."
