Michigan State football: 2024 QB Henry Hasselbeck decommits

Michigan State football currently has no scholarship quarterbacks for 2024 without Henry Hasselbeck.

On Friday night, QB Henry Hasselbeck took to X to announce his decommitment from Michigan State football.

With all that has changed, I believe it is wise for me to start my recruiting process over again. I’d like to publicly thank the previous staff at Michigan State, especially Coaches Johnson, Kapilovic, Novak, and Reiling among others for initiating my interest in Michigan State.

— Henry Hasselbeck (@HenryHasselbeck) December 2, 2023

Hasselbeck has been committed to the Spartans as of June 30. According to his post, he has elected to re-entertain recruiting with Xaverian Brothers’ season-ending. Additionally, all the upheaval among the Michigan State coaching staff played a role in this. For those who are curious because of the name, Hasselbeck is the son of former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. 

State of the quarterback room

This puts the Spartans in an interesting position. Now, there is no scholarship quarterback for the 2024 season. Currently, our quarterback room consists of Andrew Schorfhaar and Zach Gillespie, both walk-ons. Previously, Katin Houser, then Sam Leavitt, then Noah Kim have all entered the portal (or announced their intentions) on Nov. 28-29. Schorfhaar has previously attempted passes against Ohio State and Penn State, going 2-for-2 for -3 yards and a seven-yard sack. That is right, our current 2024 projected starter has -10 yards to his name. Zach Gillespie, meanwhile, has converted to wide receiver, before converting back to quarterback late in the season this year. His last attempted pass in an actual game came during his senior season, at the local to East Lansing high school Lansing Catholic.

This is the low point of our quarterback room. 

Obviously, it is extraordinarily unlikely that Schorfhaar will be the starter in 2024. Michigan State will likely utilize the portal and recruiting to give the Spartans two or three options heading into next season. Around this time last cycle, Michigan State’s previous coaching staff made a tremendous, and successful, push for Sam Leavitt after Dante Moore (who is now in the portal, by the way) took his talents to the West Coast.

Additionally, Hasselbeck did state in his X.com post that he would be open to a return with the Spartans. This decommitment was to explore his options and re-evaluate after most of the coaching staff (with the exceptions of Hawkins and Barnett) were let go by the program to give Jonathan Smith a clean house to make hires. 

Michigan State is still a strong consideration for me. I had a great first conversation with Coach Brian Lindgren and I look forward to getting to know him and the new Michigan State staff better. Thank you to my @Xaverian_Hawks coaches and teammates for helping me get to here!!

— Henry Hasselbeck (@HenryHasselbeck) December 2, 2023

We at Spartan Shadows would like to wish the best for Henry Hasselbeck moving forward, whether it is a recommitment to the Spartans or elsewhere around the country.