Chris Kapilovic, former offensive line coach of the Michigan State Spartans, is successful
The Michigan State Spartans have found the right reinforcement in offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. He followed head coach Jonathan Smith from Oregon State to East Lansing, where he produced some of the best offensive linemen in the country for the Beavers during his successful tenure. Watch Taliese Fuaga’s highlights. He was drafted in the first round by Oregon State in 2024 and was perhaps one of the closest players to being considered a “must-have” prospect in this draft.
Michalczik’s predecessor, Chris Kapilovic, is now at the University of Alabama. Kapilovic had a fairly successful tenure in East Lansing before transferring to Baylor in the offseason to take a position on the offensive line. Almost as quickly, he found himself on Kalen DeBoer’s team at Alabama. The team has the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Nick Saban, arguably the best head coach in college football history.
Recently, Kapilovic was named the top prospect in the country for the class of 2025 by 247Sports. So far, Kapilovic has signed five players and the average player rating is 94.1 according to the 247Sports Composite Coach. He has secured one five-star and three four-star players, as well as one three-star player.
Five-star Ty Haywood looks like someone who could play on Sunday. He’s the second-best offensive tackle in his class and the 11th-best prospect overall. Kapilovic has a prototype for his offensive linemen. Whether tackle or interior linemen, he prefers players 6’5″ or taller and around 280 pounds. All of his 2025 players fit that bill. Like DeBoer’s offensive lines in Washington, the Crimson Tide’s line looks to be long and athletic.
Kapilovic didn’t have the same success at Michigan State, although he did receive commitments from blue chippers during his time with the Green and White. Four-star prospect Stanton Ramil was an Under Armour All-American and a top-100 player. Ramil didn’t play last season and could be a key player for the Spartans in the future. Kapilovic couldn’t convince Ramil to go with him to Tuscaloosa like Geno VanDeMark did.
Michalczik is a more than worthy successor to Kapilovic and the Spartans are even better off given Michalczik’s abilities as a coach and his development history to date.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated’s Michigan State recruiting reporter and covers all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive coverage of the Spartans recruiting.
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