Michigan State third-year OL Rakeem Johnson primed for larger role

Now a redshirt sophomore in 2026, offensive lineman Rakeem Johnson closed out the 2025 campaign for Michigan State with four consecutive starts.

Johnson is one of the players who decided not to depart after head coach Jonathan Smith was fired and stayed under the new Pat Fitzgerald regime in East Lansing.

Johnson says the conversations with Fitzgerald ("Coach Fitz") and new offensive line coach Nick Tabacca made it feel like it was a family, and he wanted to stay at MSU and play under them both.

“I had a talk with Coach Fitz when he first got here, and (we discussed) the plan he had for this program, what he wanted to bring in and where he saw this program going,” Johnson said regarding why he chose to remain with the Spartans. “I trusted it. They hired coach Tabbaca too, and I heard a lot from him, he called me a lot. It felt like a family aspect from these coaches. I came back here, and they are not lying, a lot of energy and just bringing Spartan football back.”

Tabacca came to MSU after spending 11 seasons as Wake Forest's offensive line coach from 2014 through 2024. Johnson says he loves Tabacca's energy, and he has learned a lot from him so far.

“He has a lot of energy, which I like a lot,” Johnson said about Tabacca. “He is a family guy, he likes a really close room. He has a rule that there are no phones at all in his room. I think we are going to start having a basket to put our phones into. His technique is a lot of the same things I was learning (under the old staff) — it’s like you take one thing from a coach, you learn another thing. I like learning new things from Coach Tabacca and hearing what he has to say. He is really good at coaching and helping me out."

Johnson noted that he sees a lot of similarities in the desire to win between the new staff and the old staff, but says there are schematic differences. However, the goal is still the same.