Michigan State University Athletics
Preseason Camp Update: Catching Up with Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan
8/14/2026 5:22:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State first-year offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan spoke with the media earlier this week to give an update on the Spartans.
Below are quotes from Sheridan's press conference:
On the biggest leap the offense has taken…
Well, I just think foundational understanding of vocabulary, what words mean, how to line up, what's a two-by two and three-by-one formation. What are an inside zone play to the right or to the left, how we're going to communicate? Certainly, the guys have done a great job throughout the summer. Just kind of digesting the things that we taught them in the spring and building on that. And I think as you work through camp, the biggest thing is just the precision and the detail. The ability to execute consistently one play at a time. And so, guys are working hard towards that, but that's always why you need practice. We need every second. Every walk through, every instillation meeting, every film review. We need it all to make sure that the precision and the detail is where we want it to be headed into the first game.
On the offensive line unit…
First thing, I think they're incredibly well coached. I think coach (Nick) Tabacca, Colin (Johnson), Matt (Allen), they do a fantastic job. They're excellent teachers, great motivators. The players love them, but they're hard on them. And the players appreciate that because they want to be coached and they want to get better. And I know the entire group feels that way, and so, first off, I give them a lot of credit.
Secondly, I do think there's depth there. There's competition there. And we have the first full day of pads tomorrow (Thursday), so I think it's a little bit early to really tell you kind of where it lays and who's where. And it's always important to cross train guys, guys that can play both sides, inside out, snap, because you just don't know what the season will bring you. So, Coach Tabacca is doing an incredible job of that. We're cross-training guys in a lot of different spots.
There's certainly experience in the room. Guys that have played a lot of football. And so, we expect them to play well, and that'll be important for us every game that we play, as the offensive line plays well. They know that. They understand the task ahead. So, they're doing a nice job, working hard, and they're getting better. There's still some instillation. That will start to slow down relative to the O line. The run schemes get fewer and fewer, certain situational things. And then you really start to see the guys that really know it and can master it, that can handle the different things that our defense presents, which Coach (Joe) Rossi and his staff do an incredible job. We got great players and a lot of challenging things, which is awesome for us to see every day in practice. So, they're working hard, and I love the kids, and I think their coach (Nick Tabacca) is fantastic. So, it's a good group.
On what Alessio Milivojevic does best…
I think his character is outstanding. That's what I would tell you. I think he's got tremendous character. He's a great kid. His parents have done a really nice job. This is an awesome guy. And what a great place to start, talk about being a quarterback in the Big Ten. And so, there's physical traits there. But what a great kid, and he's a joy to coach. He wants to be coached. He likes to be coached, and he gets upset when you don't coach him. And so those are the things that I love about the kid. I love them. I love coaching them. Coach (John) McNulty, Morgan (Bequeaith), have done an awesome job with him, but he shows up every day, the same guy. And that's hard to do, as you all know, you guys all have jobs. He brings it every day. He's ready to go. And I love that about the kid.
On something Alessio Milivojevic is growing at throughout spring and fall camp…
I think situational awareness; he's still a young player. He has had experience in the games, which is great for him. But this isn't a double-digit starter, it's not like he started 15 or 20 career games. So, there's learning that is occurring. And he's embracing that. And so, some situational things, awareness on the different down and distances, clock situations, field position situations. He can't get enough of that. And he does awesome. He learns, he applies it. He doesn't make the same mistake twice. And so, his progression is as expected, and he's doing awesome. He's doing great.
On getting a better gauge of physical and schematical retention as the team puts pads on for the first time…
Yeah, that's real football, with consequences, so yes, for sure. I think it reveals people in this sport when you put the pads on. That's our sport. This is contact, tackle football. There're obviously modifications in practice relative to how often we take guys to the ground and those types of things, but you find out a lot when guys are getting thudded up and tackled and Coach (Joe) Rossi and the staff and the defensive players are punching at the ball. You find out the guys that can take care of the football, you find out the guys that play behind their pads. You find out the guys that can play downhill, which is what we're looking for. And so, I don't think there's any doubt. The first couple of days are always a heavy emphasis on alignment, assignment, technique, communication, the things that you have to handle to even get going, but yeah, no doubt when they put the pads on, you find out who can play football well, which is important for us.
On if physicality is emphasized to the offensive units compared to the defense…
Yeah, that's a big pet peeve of mine. It's like in recruiting sometimes, like, 'I don't think this guy's a defensive player.' That bothers me. It's like, the same requirements for a three technique is for a left guard. We still want these guys to go knock the heck out of people. So, yeah, that's important that they play behind their pads, and so, absolutely. The courage, the toughness, the willingness to go do it, to stick your face in there. And do it multiple times, one play after another. And so, we're looking for the same things, a great middle linebacker probably could be a good tailback from a physicality standpoint, from a toughness, from all the things that we're looking for here, under Fitz (Pat Fitzgerald), and at this place, for sure.
On his observations from some of the young tight ends/receivers…
Learning and growing. I do think there's competition that's going on in those rooms. Jayden (Savoury) certainly has been somebody that's been just continuing to get better. I think we all saw some of the movement and body control ability in spring. What I've been proud of him is that I think he's playing more physical. He is playing behind his pads and trying to become a more dependable, a reliable blocker, which is a normal transition, Woz (Brian Wozniak) has done an awesome job. Jayden (Savoury) has some catching ability that maybe Woz (Brian Wozniak) never had as a player. Woz will probably tell you that (smiling). But Woz certainly was tough, and his players play tough. And so, I have seen progress with Jayden (Savoury) from an ability to block the C and D gap, which is important, so that you can be treated like a tight end and not just like a wide out. And so, Jayden (Savoury) has made strides for sure.
And the wideouts are coming along. There's a lot of competition in that room, guys that have ability for sure, but just the consistency, I think that's for every position. We're five practices in, we had a run through today, there's still a lot of competition and snaps to be had and plays to be made for those guys to kind of see where they're going to be for the opener, but knowing that's a long season, we're going to need them all. They're all going to have to be ready to go.
On hammering down the offensive playbook and schemes with redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic…
Yeah, we are evaluating that every minute of every day, and not just for him, but for him to start what he does best. And we have a much better idea after spring than we did before. And we'll know more after five practices. You're still making sure that your menu of things that you have to execute for the entirety of the year. We play different teams with different schemes, different personnels. And so, you have to make sure you have enough volume to be able to handle the different things without feeling like the guys are learning new plays every week. There always will be game plan specific things that you think are best to attack that team that week. But we're trying to build a menu that can handle the different fronts and coverages and people that we're going to go against, but we're constantly evaluating what the guys do best. And certainly, the quarterback's a big piece. The O line's a big piece of that. Which skill guys? What personnel groupings do we want to be in? Where do we want to put those guys? What routes, what run schemes that we talk about every day, every minute. So that's an ongoing thing. And we want the guys to play fast, we want them to know what to do, know how to do it, and go like heck. So that's what we're trying to get to.
On if it's a fun challenge trying to learn the new offensive pieces in his first year as the MSU offensive coordinator…
I enjoy the challenge every year I've coached, regardless of the returners or new guys, or I just think, it's awesome. I love football. I love coaching. And so, I don't ever look at it that way, like, 'oh, we're in a great place because we have so many guys coming back,' it's just new, I mean, it's just a different challenge every year on getting that group to play their best and trying to find a way to win the games. And so, I'm having a blast every day, and I try to do that every year I've coached. There are some days it's not the most fun, Joe (Rossi) does a great job. So, we're having a blast. Kids have been awesome. Staffs phenomenal. Fitz is incredible. It's been great.
On how the go-pro cameras that the quarterbacks wear on their helmet can help…
There's a combination there. Certainly, a vision element. You can see where he turned his head. We have stripes down the helmet so we can see where his eyes are looking when he takes the snap. There's also a lot of things that we can hear, there's a mic there, so you can hear how he communicated at the line of scrimmage or in the huddle or wherever we're doing. So, there's a lot, we're always searching for the best way to teach. That's what we do as coaches. We try to teach. And so, it's a good teaching tool. And we use it when we feel like it's appropriate and it can help the guys play better and understand the importance of certain coaching points, or where they should put their eyes or what they should be saying, and we hear the quarterback, we can also hear the other guys too, and we can't hear the wide receiver that's 30 yards away, but we can hear what the O line said or didn't say or whatever those things may be. So, we're constantly looking for an edge there, and Fitz is always pushing us to do that and provides us with the resources to do it. So, it's been great.
On the competition on the running back depth chart…
There's a lot of competition. I think Cam's (Edawards) learning every day. He's played a lot of football. He had a lot of carries, he understands some of the intricacies of run schemes for sure. And the things that he was asked to do (at UConn) there's carryover. He was well coached at UConn, and their staff did a nice job for sure. So, there's carryover. There's only so many run plays. There's zone plays inside and outside. There're gap plays. So, there's only so many run schemes. And so, he certainly has a familiarity and the ability to handle those things. I think some of the intricacies, whether it be protection or route running, he's just stacking days like the rest of the group and getting better and better. And so, he's doing a great job. I mean, Coach (Devon) Spaulding and Grover (Bortolotti), both played the position not too long ago, and they understand the importance of the details of that position. I think sometimes that gets misinterpreted, that maybe with running backs, there's not a lot to it. There is. There're tons of detail relative to the reads, the protections, the routes, and Coach (Devon) Spaulding does an awesome job, and Grover (Bortolotti). They do a great job together of coaching those guys.
And I think there's a lot of young players that are pushing for time. I think Marv (Marvis Parrish) has done a great job, he has been fantastic, really good in blitz pickups. And so, he's growing and getting better every day. You mentioned Tullis, BT (Brandon Tullis) has showed up in some blitz pickup situations. Jazz (Jaziun Patterson), there's a lot of competition, and that's a position that always needs depth. You need to have depth throughout the year in our league, as physical as the defenses are.
On the size of the running back room…
Yeah, there's a mix there. There're some bigger guys and there's some guys that I wouldn't say are small, but maybe not as big, is probably an easy way to say it. And so, the more you do well, the harder you are to defend, so we're constantly looking at that. And so, Zion's (Gist) is another kid that certainly has flashed and showed some things that we like. So, they're all working hard and Dev's (Devon Spaulding) doing a great job.
On how many running backs he'd like to play…
Number one, we want to win. And so, whatever combination that is to help that. I think there's a longevity piece with the running backs. You see a little bit more of multiple guys trying to split some load, some load management or whatever you want to call it, just the carries. You don't want the guys to have 25 carries in a game. I know that was common not too long ago, but it's a little tougher. You look around, there's not many guys that are doing that. So, I think it's good for their group to have multiple guys that can carry, but they've got to earn that. And so, we don't have a preference one or the other. If it's one person and that's the way we need to go, then that's what it is. But I think there's multiple guys that deserve to have the ball in their hands and that'll help everybody stay fresh and stay healthy to just get to the season the way you want and feel like you're full speed each game.
On the type of characteristics he looks for in quarterbacks…
I mean, we certainly have a profile at every position that we're looking for. But we're looking for great football players, and they come especially at quarterback, I think at that position, maybe more so than others. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, arm talents. It's just hard to explain that. It's like, that's the one position. You look around the NFL, you see the left guard for each team. They all look about the same. You see the Z receiver, they all look kind of similar. You look at the quarterbacks, you've got such a wide range of skill sets, of heights, of movement and abilities. And so, there's such an importance on decision making at that position that some guys, there's been plenty of guys around 5.0 40 times that were great quarterbacks, and some guys run 4.4 and they're good too. So, we'll take them all, whatever helps us win. And we're capable and have experience of coaching different guys. The last two guys I was fortunate to be around with Jalen (Milroe) and Ty (Simpson), those guys were completely different, and they were much different than Mike (Michael Penix Jr.). You guys have all seen that. There're just different styles. We're just looking for the guy that plays a position the right way, leads the team, represents us all from a toughness and a leadership standpoint the way we want.
Below are quotes from Sheridan's press conference:
On the biggest leap the offense has taken…
Well, I just think foundational understanding of vocabulary, what words mean, how to line up, what's a two-by two and three-by-one formation. What are an inside zone play to the right or to the left, how we're going to communicate? Certainly, the guys have done a great job throughout the summer. Just kind of digesting the things that we taught them in the spring and building on that. And I think as you work through camp, the biggest thing is just the precision and the detail. The ability to execute consistently one play at a time. And so, guys are working hard towards that, but that's always why you need practice. We need every second. Every walk through, every instillation meeting, every film review. We need it all to make sure that the precision and the detail is where we want it to be headed into the first game.
On the offensive line unit…
First thing, I think they're incredibly well coached. I think coach (Nick) Tabacca, Colin (Johnson), Matt (Allen), they do a fantastic job. They're excellent teachers, great motivators. The players love them, but they're hard on them. And the players appreciate that because they want to be coached and they want to get better. And I know the entire group feels that way, and so, first off, I give them a lot of credit.
Secondly, I do think there's depth there. There's competition there. And we have the first full day of pads tomorrow (Thursday), so I think it's a little bit early to really tell you kind of where it lays and who's where. And it's always important to cross train guys, guys that can play both sides, inside out, snap, because you just don't know what the season will bring you. So, Coach Tabacca is doing an incredible job of that. We're cross-training guys in a lot of different spots.
There's certainly experience in the room. Guys that have played a lot of football. And so, we expect them to play well, and that'll be important for us every game that we play, as the offensive line plays well. They know that. They understand the task ahead. So, they're doing a nice job, working hard, and they're getting better. There's still some instillation. That will start to slow down relative to the O line. The run schemes get fewer and fewer, certain situational things. And then you really start to see the guys that really know it and can master it, that can handle the different things that our defense presents, which Coach (Joe) Rossi and his staff do an incredible job. We got great players and a lot of challenging things, which is awesome for us to see every day in practice. So, they're working hard, and I love the kids, and I think their coach (Nick Tabacca) is fantastic. So, it's a good group.
On what Alessio Milivojevic does best…
I think his character is outstanding. That's what I would tell you. I think he's got tremendous character. He's a great kid. His parents have done a really nice job. This is an awesome guy. And what a great place to start, talk about being a quarterback in the Big Ten. And so, there's physical traits there. But what a great kid, and he's a joy to coach. He wants to be coached. He likes to be coached, and he gets upset when you don't coach him. And so those are the things that I love about the kid. I love them. I love coaching them. Coach (John) McNulty, Morgan (Bequeaith), have done an awesome job with him, but he shows up every day, the same guy. And that's hard to do, as you all know, you guys all have jobs. He brings it every day. He's ready to go. And I love that about the kid.
On something Alessio Milivojevic is growing at throughout spring and fall camp…
I think situational awareness; he's still a young player. He has had experience in the games, which is great for him. But this isn't a double-digit starter, it's not like he started 15 or 20 career games. So, there's learning that is occurring. And he's embracing that. And so, some situational things, awareness on the different down and distances, clock situations, field position situations. He can't get enough of that. And he does awesome. He learns, he applies it. He doesn't make the same mistake twice. And so, his progression is as expected, and he's doing awesome. He's doing great.
On getting a better gauge of physical and schematical retention as the team puts pads on for the first time…
Yeah, that's real football, with consequences, so yes, for sure. I think it reveals people in this sport when you put the pads on. That's our sport. This is contact, tackle football. There're obviously modifications in practice relative to how often we take guys to the ground and those types of things, but you find out a lot when guys are getting thudded up and tackled and Coach (Joe) Rossi and the staff and the defensive players are punching at the ball. You find out the guys that can take care of the football, you find out the guys that play behind their pads. You find out the guys that can play downhill, which is what we're looking for. And so, I don't think there's any doubt. The first couple of days are always a heavy emphasis on alignment, assignment, technique, communication, the things that you have to handle to even get going, but yeah, no doubt when they put the pads on, you find out who can play football well, which is important for us.
On if physicality is emphasized to the offensive units compared to the defense…
Yeah, that's a big pet peeve of mine. It's like in recruiting sometimes, like, 'I don't think this guy's a defensive player.' That bothers me. It's like, the same requirements for a three technique is for a left guard. We still want these guys to go knock the heck out of people. So, yeah, that's important that they play behind their pads, and so, absolutely. The courage, the toughness, the willingness to go do it, to stick your face in there. And do it multiple times, one play after another. And so, we're looking for the same things, a great middle linebacker probably could be a good tailback from a physicality standpoint, from a toughness, from all the things that we're looking for here, under Fitz (Pat Fitzgerald), and at this place, for sure.
On his observations from some of the young tight ends/receivers…
Learning and growing. I do think there's competition that's going on in those rooms. Jayden (Savoury) certainly has been somebody that's been just continuing to get better. I think we all saw some of the movement and body control ability in spring. What I've been proud of him is that I think he's playing more physical. He is playing behind his pads and trying to become a more dependable, a reliable blocker, which is a normal transition, Woz (Brian Wozniak) has done an awesome job. Jayden (Savoury) has some catching ability that maybe Woz (Brian Wozniak) never had as a player. Woz will probably tell you that (smiling). But Woz certainly was tough, and his players play tough. And so, I have seen progress with Jayden (Savoury) from an ability to block the C and D gap, which is important, so that you can be treated like a tight end and not just like a wide out. And so, Jayden (Savoury) has made strides for sure.
And the wideouts are coming along. There's a lot of competition in that room, guys that have ability for sure, but just the consistency, I think that's for every position. We're five practices in, we had a run through today, there's still a lot of competition and snaps to be had and plays to be made for those guys to kind of see where they're going to be for the opener, but knowing that's a long season, we're going to need them all. They're all going to have to be ready to go.
On hammering down the offensive playbook and schemes with redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic…
Yeah, we are evaluating that every minute of every day, and not just for him, but for him to start what he does best. And we have a much better idea after spring than we did before. And we'll know more after five practices. You're still making sure that your menu of things that you have to execute for the entirety of the year. We play different teams with different schemes, different personnels. And so, you have to make sure you have enough volume to be able to handle the different things without feeling like the guys are learning new plays every week. There always will be game plan specific things that you think are best to attack that team that week. But we're trying to build a menu that can handle the different fronts and coverages and people that we're going to go against, but we're constantly evaluating what the guys do best. And certainly, the quarterback's a big piece. The O line's a big piece of that. Which skill guys? What personnel groupings do we want to be in? Where do we want to put those guys? What routes, what run schemes that we talk about every day, every minute. So that's an ongoing thing. And we want the guys to play fast, we want them to know what to do, know how to do it, and go like heck. So that's what we're trying to get to.
On if it's a fun challenge trying to learn the new offensive pieces in his first year as the MSU offensive coordinator…
I enjoy the challenge every year I've coached, regardless of the returners or new guys, or I just think, it's awesome. I love football. I love coaching. And so, I don't ever look at it that way, like, 'oh, we're in a great place because we have so many guys coming back,' it's just new, I mean, it's just a different challenge every year on getting that group to play their best and trying to find a way to win the games. And so, I'm having a blast every day, and I try to do that every year I've coached. There are some days it's not the most fun, Joe (Rossi) does a great job. So, we're having a blast. Kids have been awesome. Staffs phenomenal. Fitz is incredible. It's been great.
On how the go-pro cameras that the quarterbacks wear on their helmet can help…
There's a combination there. Certainly, a vision element. You can see where he turned his head. We have stripes down the helmet so we can see where his eyes are looking when he takes the snap. There's also a lot of things that we can hear, there's a mic there, so you can hear how he communicated at the line of scrimmage or in the huddle or wherever we're doing. So, there's a lot, we're always searching for the best way to teach. That's what we do as coaches. We try to teach. And so, it's a good teaching tool. And we use it when we feel like it's appropriate and it can help the guys play better and understand the importance of certain coaching points, or where they should put their eyes or what they should be saying, and we hear the quarterback, we can also hear the other guys too, and we can't hear the wide receiver that's 30 yards away, but we can hear what the O line said or didn't say or whatever those things may be. So, we're constantly looking for an edge there, and Fitz is always pushing us to do that and provides us with the resources to do it. So, it's been great.
On the competition on the running back depth chart…
There's a lot of competition. I think Cam's (Edawards) learning every day. He's played a lot of football. He had a lot of carries, he understands some of the intricacies of run schemes for sure. And the things that he was asked to do (at UConn) there's carryover. He was well coached at UConn, and their staff did a nice job for sure. So, there's carryover. There's only so many run plays. There's zone plays inside and outside. There're gap plays. So, there's only so many run schemes. And so, he certainly has a familiarity and the ability to handle those things. I think some of the intricacies, whether it be protection or route running, he's just stacking days like the rest of the group and getting better and better. And so, he's doing a great job. I mean, Coach (Devon) Spaulding and Grover (Bortolotti), both played the position not too long ago, and they understand the importance of the details of that position. I think sometimes that gets misinterpreted, that maybe with running backs, there's not a lot to it. There is. There're tons of detail relative to the reads, the protections, the routes, and Coach (Devon) Spaulding does an awesome job, and Grover (Bortolotti). They do a great job together of coaching those guys.
And I think there's a lot of young players that are pushing for time. I think Marv (Marvis Parrish) has done a great job, he has been fantastic, really good in blitz pickups. And so, he's growing and getting better every day. You mentioned Tullis, BT (Brandon Tullis) has showed up in some blitz pickup situations. Jazz (Jaziun Patterson), there's a lot of competition, and that's a position that always needs depth. You need to have depth throughout the year in our league, as physical as the defenses are.
On the size of the running back room…
Yeah, there's a mix there. There're some bigger guys and there's some guys that I wouldn't say are small, but maybe not as big, is probably an easy way to say it. And so, the more you do well, the harder you are to defend, so we're constantly looking at that. And so, Zion's (Gist) is another kid that certainly has flashed and showed some things that we like. So, they're all working hard and Dev's (Devon Spaulding) doing a great job.
On how many running backs he'd like to play…
Number one, we want to win. And so, whatever combination that is to help that. I think there's a longevity piece with the running backs. You see a little bit more of multiple guys trying to split some load, some load management or whatever you want to call it, just the carries. You don't want the guys to have 25 carries in a game. I know that was common not too long ago, but it's a little tougher. You look around, there's not many guys that are doing that. So, I think it's good for their group to have multiple guys that can carry, but they've got to earn that. And so, we don't have a preference one or the other. If it's one person and that's the way we need to go, then that's what it is. But I think there's multiple guys that deserve to have the ball in their hands and that'll help everybody stay fresh and stay healthy to just get to the season the way you want and feel like you're full speed each game.
On the type of characteristics he looks for in quarterbacks…
I mean, we certainly have a profile at every position that we're looking for. But we're looking for great football players, and they come especially at quarterback, I think at that position, maybe more so than others. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, arm talents. It's just hard to explain that. It's like, that's the one position. You look around the NFL, you see the left guard for each team. They all look about the same. You see the Z receiver, they all look kind of similar. You look at the quarterbacks, you've got such a wide range of skill sets, of heights, of movement and abilities. And so, there's such an importance on decision making at that position that some guys, there's been plenty of guys around 5.0 40 times that were great quarterbacks, and some guys run 4.4 and they're good too. So, we'll take them all, whatever helps us win. And we're capable and have experience of coaching different guys. The last two guys I was fortunate to be around with Jalen (Milroe) and Ty (Simpson), those guys were completely different, and they were much different than Mike (Michael Penix Jr.). You guys have all seen that. There're just different styles. We're just looking for the guy that plays a position the right way, leads the team, represents us all from a toughness and a leadership standpoint the way we want.
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