St. Francis graduate Milivojevic earned Fitzgerald’s trust quickly at Michigan State
Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic has something in common with several West suburban stars of the past.
He was a serious hockey player growing up, like J.J. McCarthy. He committed to a MAC school before switching to Michigan State late in the process, like Payton Thorne. And he has an Eastern European name, like Matas Buzelis.
The redshirt sophomore from Naperville and St. Francis High School is heading into fall camp as the Spartans starter, after taking over the role late last season.
Now the next step is to stick it out until the finish. One odd fact about the coming college football season is there are at least four former Michigan State quarterbacks starting around the country, including Illinois' Katin Houser and Northwestern's Aidan Chiles. The others are Sam Leavitt at LSU and Noah Kim at Eastern Michigan.
“This is exactly where I want to be,” Milivojevic said Wednesday at Big Ten media days in Chicago. “Honestly, I have no plans of leaving. As long as I'm in college, I want to be at Michigan State.”
Milivojevic has used the same quarterback coach as McCarthy since fifth grade, Greg Holcomb. He started playing football with the Naperville Patriots and was coached by his father, Ivan, most of the way.
“I was very serious about hockey,” Milivojevic said. “I played for 10 years, got on skates when I was 3. I had to give up lacrosse as well. I was a pretty active kid. I loved physical sports, I loved hitting people. Ultimately football is my love, and that's what I chose.”
Physical play was a reason listed by new MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald for why he named Milivojevic the starting quarterback shortly after taking the job.
“I watched ‘Les’ compete in Kinnick (against Iowa) last year, and he got his lips absolutely fricking knocked off,” Fitzgerald said. “And the kid kept getting up and getting up and getting up.
“He and I sat down and had a meeting, like I did with all the players. He walked in and he had an 'it' factor about him. He was prepared for the meeting. I was obviously watching the tape at the same time, and we made a decision that he was going to be QB1.”
The lips seemed fine while Milivojevic spoke at the podium Wednesday, so what happened in that game at Iowa?
“I know exactly the play he was talking about, 15-yard penalty, by the way,” he said. “My mouth may have been bleeding, I may have been coughing up blood. Now I can show him in person how I am a tough guy.”
In limited action last season, Milivojevic threw for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns, with a completion rate of 64.2%. His tenure included a season-ending win over Maryland.
Milivojevic's career has taken a couple of surprising turns. When he was named Daily Herald All-Area captain for DuPage County in 2023, he was about to pack his bags for Ball State and enroll as an early commit. Then a phone call arrived, and he rerouted to East Lansing.
Now Fitzgerald, the longtime Northwestern head coach, is leading the Spartans, having replaced Jonathan Smith after last year's 4-8 season.
“It's wild how worlds can collide,” Milivojevic said. “Coach Fitz is a legend, right? To put it flat out, he's a legend.
“Everyone has great things to say about him. Now that he's my head coach, it's awesome to get to know him and be around him and instead of just hearing about him.”