East Lansing — Lights, camera, action.
Alessio Milivojevic is playing the lead role for Michigan State’s offense this fall after coach Pat Fitzgerald named him starting quarterback in the spring. Now that fall camp has arrived, Milivojevic is looking to prove that offseason hype for team improvement is more than merely hope.
“It’s a different vibe out there,” Milivojevic said last week. “You’re preparing to go play someone else that you haven’t been with for weeks. You’re going to unleash something else on a different team.”
Though he has four starts under his belt (1-3 to cap a 4-8 season last year) and threw for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns in nine appearances as a redshirt freshman, Milivojevic is still raw in the eyes of his coaches. His situational awareness, and game sense — abilities drawn from experience over athleticism — aren’t yet polished. So, Milivojevic is learning on the job as Sept. 4’s opener against Toledo draws closer.
One tool to help him: the GoPro camera strapped to his helmet in some practice sessions. Not only does it allow him to play back his reps better than memory, but it also places coaches as close between the ears as possible. If they can see and hear what he sees, they can fill in the gaps to prepare him.
“We’re always searching for the best way to teach,” offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said Wednesday. “That’s what we do as coaches. We try to teach.”
Milivojevic isn’t just learning to be a full-time starter. He’s learning an entirely different offense under Sheridan, whose play calls are wide-ranging to approach different coverages and different playmakers. Milivojevic, Sheridan and QB coach John McNulty are paring down the playbook to what suits Milivojevic best, and his command of the offense is improving.
“I think it’s very quarterback-friendly,” Milivojevic said.
The leadership side of Milivojevic’s game made Fitzgerald and his staff so sure of making him the figurehead. Milivojevic — Les, he is called more commonly — practically recruited his own teammates, pitching transfer portal visitors all winter and selling them on the capabilities of the Michigan State program under Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald named him QB1 in the spring, coming in with an idea also of his toughness after watching his start in a 20-17 loss at Iowa.
“I watched Les compete in Kinnick last year, and he got his lips absolutely fricking knocked off,” Fitzgerald said last month at Big Ten Media Days. “And the kid kept getting up and getting up and getting up and getting up.”
How good a starter Milivojevic can be is the question. In the spring, ESPN assembled a list ranking the 68 Power Four quarterbacks. Milivojevic ranked 64th. Former MSU quarterbacks Sam Leavitt (14th), Katin Houser (33rd) and Aidan Chiles (57th) all ranked higher. Experience probably had something to do with that perceived dismissal.
“He’s still a young player,” Sheridan said. “He has had experience in the games, which is great for him, but this isn’t a double-digit starter.”
This is, however, a player who wants to learn.
“He wants to be coached,” Sheridan said. “He likes to be coached, you know. And he gets upset when you don’t coach him. And so those are the things that I love about the kid. I love him.”
So do Milivojevic’s teammates, including the linemen protecting him up front. They’re seeing a jump in his command, including all the details before the snap.
“Coach Sheridan, a huge thing for him is having a great huddle, having a great break out of it,” offensive lineman Conner Moore said. “And I feel like Alessio, he’s done a great job, just like commanding that stuff. And then obviously on the field, I mean, he’s taking a huge step. You know, I don’t really know quarterback play a bunch, but it seems like he’s doing good — I don’t see him throw picks or ever throw incompletions.”
The GoPro helps Milivojevic there, too. The tape plays back the pre-snap commands that are just as important as accuracy and arm talent.
“There’s a mic there, so you can hear how he communicated at the line of scrimmage or in the huddle or wherever,” Sheridan said.
And an eager pupil in Milivojevic is doing all he can to prepare himself for his first full season as the starter.
“God has given me a blessing, the opportunity to be a quarterback at this program,” he said. “I think just ultimately it’s knowing that OK, I made it this far, but why stop now? Why stop now? Why not push yourself farther and get even better every day?”
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU QB Alessio Milivojevic learning on the fly with aid of helmet cam