A little over 12 hours later Alabama beat Oklahoma to reach the College Football Playoff, news came that Nick Sheridan will leave the Crimson Tide when their postseason streak comes to an end.
This provides a glimpse into a potential future. Michigan State footballthe insult comes from an unexpected source: an ex Michigan a protector, albeit of slightly Spartan origins.
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Sheridan's hiring by new MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald has not been officially announced by the program, particularly because the No. 9 seed Crimson Tide will face No. 1 seed Indiana in the CFP quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 1 (4 p.m., ESPN). That's it Spartans We communicate with Sheridan.
Path
Michigan defensive end Nick Sheridan runs out of the pocket looking for an open man during spring training at the Oosterbaan Field House attached to Schembechler Hall on March 15, 2008 in Ann Arbor.
The 37-year-old Salina native is the son of veteran coach and Detroit native Bill Sheridan, a former Grand Valley State star who served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan (1984–85) and UM (under Bo Schembechler in 1985–86) before a long college and NFL career that included a three-season stop in Spartans under Nick Saban and Bobby Williams from 1998–2000. Bill Sheridan also coached linebackers for the Detroit Lions (2014-17) and is currently the senior defensive assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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However, offense has been Nick Sheridan's calling since he arrived in Ann Arbor in 2006. He started two games in 2007 and then started four times in eight games in 2008, completing 63 of 137 passes for 613 yards and two touchdowns, then played two games in high school in 2009 before embarking on a coaching career that began at his high school alma mater.
Sheridan returned to the college game in 2011, first as a graduate assistant and then as the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator at Western Kentucky. He took the same position at South Florida in 2013 before moving to Tennessee as a graduate assistant from 2014-16 under former Central Michigan coach Butch Jones.
Sheridan returned to the Big Ten in 2017 as part of Tom Allen's staff at Indiana, where he spent the next five seasons. After two seasons coaching the Hoosiers' quarterbacks, including future first-round NFL draft pick Michael Penix Jr., Sheridan coached their tight ends in 2019 when Allen brought in Kalen DeBoer as his offensive coordinator. After DeBoer left to become Fresno State's head coach in 2020, Sheridan was named offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021.
Progression
MEET THE NEW GUYS: Michigan State football staff under new coach Pat Fitzgerald
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In two seasons as Indiana's starter, Sheridan led an offense with ups and downs that reflected Penix's faltering health.
In 2020, the Hoosiers ranked 94th in total offense (359.5 yards) and 59th in scoring (28.9 points). Much of what Sheridan did was based on the pass: IU finished 43rd in the Football Bowl division through the air (250.9 yards) but only 114th out of 127 teams that season in rushing (108.6). The Hoosiers finished 6-2 in the pandemic-shortened season; their only Big Ten loss came at Ohio State and then they lost to Mississippi in the Outback Bowl.
Then in 2021, when Penix suffered a second torn ACL and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury five games in, Indiana's offense took a turn for the worse. Indiana finished 124th in total offense (290.0 yards) and 123rd in scoring (17.3 points), and Sheridan was fired. along with Allen, after going 2-10 overall and winless in the Big Ten. This included a 20–15 loss to MSU.
When DeBoer was hired by Washington, he brought Sheridan with him as his tight ends coach in 2022 and 2023. Then, when Alabama came calling, Sheridan followed DeBoer back as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2024. With Jalen Milroe at quarterback, the Crimson Tide went 9-4 but missed out on the CFP. Sheridan's offense ranked 22nd in the country in scoring (33.8 points) and 42nd in total offense (410.2 yards), but Alabama averaged just 269.3 yards while scoring 33 points in losses to Tennessee, Oklahoma and UM (a 19-13 loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl).
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DeBoer reshuffled his roster this offseason to bring in longtime confidant Ryan Grubb, who spent 2024 leading the Seattle Seahawks offense. However, in July, DeBoer praised Sheridan, calling the relationship between Sheridan and Grubb “amazing” since their time together in Washington.
January 8, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Washington Huskies coach Nick Sheridan plays against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game at NRG Stadium.
“The guy is unbelievable when it comes to his offensive mind, his football mind,” DeBoer told reporters. “His organization, the way he teaches, the way he recruits players. I mean, he's recruited at a high level… He has a deep relationship with our players because that's the kind of guy he is. He has high character.”
With Grubb taking over the running game this season and Sheridan as his offensive coordinator, the Crimson Tide ranks 39th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring (31.4 points) and 74th in total offense (380.1 yards). Alabama was once again the top passing group, averaging 270.2 yards and ranking 22nd with the 26th most efficient passing attack with quarterback Ty Simpson passing for 3,500 yards with 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
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“Our quarterback room trains better than any other quarterback room in the country,” DeBoer said earlier this season, pointing to Sheridan's work at the position the past two seasons.
Philosophy
Quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan directs players during Crimson Tide spring practice on March 5, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
What Sheridan's offense looked like is something returning starter Alessio Milivojevic and the rest of MSU's defensemen – along with new signee Cade Coffman – will want to know and study. The same will happen with wide receiver Nick Marsh, who is exploring the transfer portal, and MSU running back.
Establishing trust will be one of Sheridan's first steps when he arrives. There are three pillars he mentioned on the “Next Up” video podcast after he was named offensive coordinator last year: “We talk about dominating the football, we talk about being detail oriented and we talk about being explosive.”
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It was largely because of this that DeBoer became one of the best young coaches in the game and landed the job with the Crimson Tide. This involves running a pro-style offense, of which Sheridan said: “We try to use our playmakers.” To be successful, he added, you have to score touchdowns in the red zone, take care of the ball and create big plays.
“We're talking about win rate—the difference in your turnover margin versus your explosive margin in a game,” Sheridan told podcast host Adam Breneman.
“The simplest way to explain it is: If you're in a game, no matter how many explosive plays the opponent makes on offense, we have to match and exceed that number to win the game. It's the same with turnovers.”
What does he inherit
Michigan State's Alessio Milivojevic (bottom) is sacked by Michigan's Derrick Moore in the fourth quarter Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
Ironically, Sheridan's biggest challenge will be one left behind by one of his current colleagues: fixing MSU's leaky offensive line.
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Chris Kapilovic, who coached the position at Alabama the last two years after being fired along with most of the rest of Mel Tucker's staff following the 2023 season, has begun laying the groundwork to restore the program's depth and toughness to an offensive trench that had waned toward the end of Mark Dantonio's 13-year tenure. MSU missed out on several targets in recruiting top-tier offensive lines but achieved some, although much of the other talent it had amassed left the program after Tucker was fired and Jonathan Smith was hired. These included Geno VanDeMark, who followed Kapilovic and joined DeBoer and Sheridan in Tuscaloosa.
Spartans The 2024 graduate ranked 116th out of 133 FBS teams with three sacks per game (36 total). MSU's 37 points allowed this season ranks 12th in the country in goals allowed, and their 3.08 per game ranks 123rd nationally. Aidan Chiles, who started most of the last two seasons before entering the lineup earlier this month, has been sacked 51 times in 20 starts. Milivojevic was sacked 16 times in nine games, including seven times in his first career start when he held the starting job for the final four games, and took significant hits several more times.
Time constraints and blocking have impacted every aspect of MSU's offense under outgoing coordinator Brian Lindgren. The Spartans ranked 107th in scoring (122.8 yards) and 97th in total offense (345.5 yards) while allowing just 24.6 points per game (89th). Their 21 points per game in Big Ten play ranked the team 12th out of 18, a major reason why MSU finished 4–8 overall and 1–8 in league play. The Spartans have missed the ball for the fourth straight season and fifth time in the six years since Dantonio retired after the 2019 season.
Trying to keep Marsh on the roster and signing New Detroit Catholic Central four-star receiver Samson Gush, who remains committed to the Spartans but unsigned early in the period, will be critical once Sheridan arrives. Alabama tried to talk Gash out of his commitment, and he decided to wait to sign during the period that begins Feb. 4. Meanwhile, the NCAA transfer portal will open Jan. 2-16.
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Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: What Nick Sheridan Brings to Michigan State Football as the New OK
