MSU’s 2026 recruiting class begins to shift as Jordan Vann flips to Louisville

The 2026 recruiting class for Michigan State football is destined to have plenty of movement, given the events that have transpired — and are still transpiring.

With the 2026 class looking ahead to their early national signing day a couple short days away, it’s best at this moment to focus attention on who will sign with MSU, and who will not, this week. The opportunity to officially make good on a verbal commitment for high school seniors will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and run through Dec. 5. There will be another singing period that opens on Feb. 4, 2026.

Fresh off of a frustrating season, Michigan State's newly-hired head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, will have his work cut out for him as he identifies and pursues dozens of possible recruits. One avenue that won’t likely be explored, however, is Middletown (Ohio) defensive back Jordan Vann.

Vann shared his plans on social media on Monday afternoon.

After seeing an uptick in his recruitment this fall, stemming from his fantastic final high school season, Vann made the decision to decommit from the Spartans, and has flipped his commitment to the Louisville Cardinals. This decision comes on the heels of a weekend spent with the Cardinals, as the three-star defensive back quietly set up an official visit with Louisville, which ultimately factored into the choice to flip his pledge now, rather than sitting idle as the MSU football program undergoes changes with its leadership.

Vann tells Spartans Illustrated that he started to entertain other offers once the stability of head coach Jonathan Smith’s future with the program came into question during a rocky 2025 season. He remained transparent with the Spartans throughout the process. MSU fired on Smith on Sunday before announcing Fitzgerald as the program’s new head coach on Monday.

Vann only just recently earned that offer from Louisville, with it being extended to him on Nov. 16. The Cardinals’ offer followed two other offers that Vann received in the month of November (Wisconsin and Iowa).

Vann had an interesting connection to one of Jonathan Smith’s assistant coaches — Blue Adams. Adams' father and Vann’s father were both members of the same Cincinnati Bearcats football team together, back in their playing days.

Vann committed to Michigan State on June 15. That MSU offer originally was sent out Feb. 24, via Adams. That move occurred just three weeks after Vann had initially announced his verbal commitment to the Virginia Cavaliers earlier in that month of February. It remains to be seen if this flip shall be the first of more, or if it is just the first one to occur for the current recruiting class, as Vann was already looking around.

Regardless, though, this figures to be a very busy upcoming stretch to monitor for all Spartan fans. Sources tell Spartans Illustrated that Fitzgerald began having impactful conversations with MSU’s 2026 class on Monday night, and that many of the current commits are still expected to sign with the Spartans this week.

Spartans Illustrated will be the place for around-the-clock news and details of this 2026 high school recruiting class, and all of the transfer portal action this winter. Stay tuned.