Michigan State gets commitment from North Carolina State linebacker Kenny Soares Jr.
Pat Fitzgerald brings one of his former players at Northwestern to MSU. More on Soares here.
Michigan State is adding more help to its linebackers room, as productive North Carolina State transfer linebacker Kenny Soares Jr. has committed to the Spartans.
Soares has one year of eligibility remaining. Before playing for head coach Dave Doeren and the Wolfpack, Soares previously played under newly-hired MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern in 2022. He also spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Wildcats under head coach David Braun.
At Michigan State, Soares will be guided by Fitzgerald, defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Max Bullough, defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III, rush ends coach Andrew Bindelglass and the rest of the MSU staff.
In 2025 with North Carolina State, the 6-foot-2, 233-pound Soares recorded a career-high 80 tackles, four tackles for loss, a half-sack, two passes defended and a fumble recovery.
According to Pro Football Focus, Soares played 656 defensive snaps in 2025. He earned an overall defensive grade of 60.6 and a tackling grade of 73.0. Soares also played 76 snaps on special teams.
In three seasons with Northwestern, he appeared in 28 total contests and compiled 57 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three passes defended and a fumble recovery.
In 2024, he played in 12 games for the Wildcats and recorded 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and a pass defended. Soares also played in 12 games in 2023 and amassed 37 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass defended and a fumble recovery. As a true freshman in 2022, he appeared in four games to maintain his redshirt.
As a recruit at Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut, Soares was rated as a three-star linebacker prospect. He had additional offers from Colorado, Maryland, Army and others, but ultimately signed with Fitzgerald and Northwestern.
Soares is the fourth transfer linebacker to commit to the Spartans. He joins Caleb Wheatland (Auburn), Cam Stodhill (Albany) and Dion Crawford (Buffalo). Michigan State now has 26 public transfer pledges in total. Track all of MSU's transfer portal movement here.