The Michigan State football team wraps up fall camp this week and starts preparations for its season opener against Western Michigan. The Spartans host the Broncos next Friday night at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. With the quickly approaching start of the 2025 season comes the final position group preview: Special Teams. A unit that […]
The Michigan State football team wraps up fall camp this week and starts preparations for its season opener against Western Michigan. The Spartans host the Broncos next Friday night at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. With the quickly approaching start of the 2025 season comes the final position group preview: Special Teams.
A unit that more often than not is a strength for MSU is needing to replace second-team All-Big Ten kicker Jonathan Kim but returns punter Ryan Eckley who split second- and third-team honors last season between coaches and media, respectively. Also returning is starting long-snapper Kaden Schickel who was last in game eight last year to a season-ending injury.
While this position group each year focuses on the players filling in roles unique to the position group and filled by players on the roster who generally don’t see the field in other roles, it is always important to mention who is expected to see action as kick/punt returners. Those working the positions in fall camp have included Omari Kelly, Nick Marsh, Chrishon McCray, Braylon Collier, and Charles Taplin. Alante Brown is also expected to continue seeing action as a returner.
Punters:
Ryan Eckley returns to East Lansing for a fourth season in the Green and White having earned second-team All-Big Ten honors by the coaches and third-team by media as a redshirt-sophomore last season. That followed first-team Freshman All-American honors by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and The Athletic while earning second-team All-Big Ten by coaches and media in 2023. Eckley climbed even higher into the MSU record books in 2024 after averaging 47.9 yards per punt in Big Ten play, tied for third-longest in MSU history and best in the league last year. That followed a 2023 season in which he finished with the fifth-longest average in MSU single-season history, booming the ball 46.8 yards on average.
Eckley finished the season second in the Big Ten with 20 punts of 50-plus yards, grounded six inside the 20 and two inside the 10 while forcing opponents to nine fair catches. The only game Eckley did not have any punt in 2024 was against Iowa when MSU did not punt in a game for the first time since Nov. 18, 1989, a 76-14 win over Northwestern.
Eckley was also the primary holder for field goals and PATs.
Carson Voss transferred from Western Michigan last year and participated in spring practices, but did not see game action given Eckley’s outstanding performance as the starting punter. He holds one season left of eligibility. Voss is a native of Dansville, Mich., and holds playing for the Spartans as a dream come true for him.
Voss redshirted as a freshman and did not record statistics in 2022. In his final season in Kalamazoo, he averaged 39.6 yards per punt on 48 attempts for a total of 1,901 yards, appearing in all 12 games for the Broncos last year. When Western Michigan visited Kinnick Stadium, Voss averaged 42.7 yards per punt, including a 54-yarder, and notched a tackle against Iowa on Sept. 16 as well.
Voss was a multi-sport athlete in high school, winning the 2019 MHSAA Division 4 state championship in the long jump while being a four-time all-state honoree in track. Voss was also named the 2021 Michigan High School Coaches Association Rich Tompkins Multi-Sport winner. The award is given to athletes who are letter winners in multiple sports during their high school career and that demonstrate contributions to the sport, school, and community. Voss lettered in football, basketball, track, cross country, and soccer at Dansville High School, which is located just 20 minutes south of East Lansing.
Kickers
Tarik Ahmetbasic A native of Clinton Township, Mich., Ahmetbasic enters year three as a redshirt sophomore at MSU. He made his first PAT and and had two kickoffs last season, averaging 62.5 yards and totaling 125 with one touchback against Prairie View A&M last season.
Ahmetbasic was a first-team all-state honoree by the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, and The Associated Press in Division 1 along with a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) Academic All-State Team.
Ahmetbasic earned several other regional accolades in his high school career, while going a perfect 9-for-9 on field goals and 40-for-40 on PATs with 37 touchbacks his senior year. A multi-sport athlete, he also earned all-state honors in soccer. He committed to MSU in 2023 as a preferred walk-on and redshirted as a freshman his first year. Ahmetbasic is currently competing for the starting role against Connington.
Martin Connington arrived in East Lansing last summer as a true freshman out of Meridian, Idaho and redshirted for his freshman year. Now heading into his second season for MSU as a redshirt freshman, he was one of the top kickers in the Class of 2024, ranked No. 5 by Kohl’s Kicking and No. 7 by Chris Sailor Kicking. Originally an Oregon State commit after first committing to Boise State, Connington chose instead to follow assistant head coach/running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha to MSU as he also did when Bhonapha left the Broncos for the Beavers.
Connington was a first-team Class 5A all-state selection and was a perfect 20-for-20 on PATs while going 6-for-7 on FGAs his senior year. He also averaged 57.9 yards per kickoff along with 31.7 yards per punt.
Blake Sislo is a walk-on fifth-year college student and fourth-year player from Davenport who took last season off from football. A native of Dexter, Mich., Sislo did not see any game action in his three seasons for the Panthers, and also used his redshirt his first season in 2021. He also earned GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team honors in 2022 and 2023.
At Dexter High School, Sislo set a single-game record with 10 PATs made and scored 37 consecutive PATs at one point during his career while doubling as defensive back.
Long Snappers:
Kaden Schickel arrived at MSU last season after transferring to East Lansing in January 2024 from James Madison and started in his first eight games for the Spartans before suffering a season-ending injury at Michigan. He snapped for field goals, extra points, and punts, totalling 25 snaps for punts, 15 for PATs, and 17 for FGAs. He handled snaps for all games up to the second half of Michigan when he was injured minus the backup getting reps in Game Three.
Prior to MSU, the former Duke played in all 13 games at JMU in 2023, including against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. During the season, he recorded two tackles and recovered a fumble.
Schickel has one season remaining of eligibility after redshirting as a freshman in 2021 and did not record a game statistic in 2022. A native of Frederskcburg, Va., Schickel was rated a five-star long snapping prospect by Kohl’s Kicking coming out of high school.
Jack Wills arrived in East Lansing this summer after helping lead Hudsonville High School to the Michigan state runner-up finish in Division 1 last season in his senior year. Wills finished his senior season with first-team All-OK Red Conference honors as a tight end and earned first-team all-region honors per the MHSFCA as a junior as well. Wills was also a three-year letter winner in lacrosse.
For more information on the Michigan State roster for 2025, check out Spartans Illustrated’s other positional previews below:
Category: General Sports
