Michigan State Football 2025 Positional Preview: Running backs

As head coach Jonathan Smith prepares for his second season of competition at Michigan State and with fall camp quickly approaching, Spartans Illustrated will take an in-depth look at each positional group for the Spartans in 2025.

We start by examining the group of running backs, led by assistant head coach, co-special teams coordinator and running backs coach Keith Bhonapha.

Michigan State lost its top two running backs from 2024 to the NFL — Kay’ron Lynch-Adams (649 yards) and Nate Carter (499 yards) — so the competition is open. The running backs room is now quite young for the Spartans. Bhonapha generally likes to use a two-man tandem at running back as he showed last year with Lynch-Adams and Carter, but multiple tailbacks are vying for carries in 2025.

Let’s take a closer look at the running backs on Michigan State’s 2025 roster, in no particular order.

Note: True freshman athlete Bryson Williams has running back flexibility, but will most likely begin his career at wide receiver and he will be included in the wide receivers preview.

Elijah Tau-Tolliver, redshirt senior

Elijah Tau-Tolliver transferred to Michigan State from Sacramento State earlier in the offseason, enrolling in January after committing to the Spartans in December of 2024. He was able to go through spring ball with the Spartans and get a head start on the offensive system under Smith, Bhonapha and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren.

While it remains to be seen whether or not Tau-Tolliver will be the starter or one of the top-two tailbacks in the pecking order, he has a versatile skill set that should allow him to play plenty of snaps. He make plays in the run game as a ball-carrier, is a reliable pass-catcher and is strong in pass protection. One thing the Michigan State coaches would like to see from Tau-Tolliver is running with a lower pad level, as he sometimes runs a little bit too high.

While Tau-Tolliver is new to East Lansing, he is easily the most seasoned college football player in the running backs room, entering his fifth year of competition in 2025. He can provide leadership for his group. Bhonapha also likes how “sudden” Tau-Tolliver is when carrying the ball.

In 41 career games played with the Hornets, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Tau-Tolliver rushed the ball 275 times for 1,538 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns. He also recorded 48 receptions for 389 yards and two additional touchdowns. Additionally, Tau-Tolliver has made an impact on special teams with more than 1,000 kick return yards.

“I think the thing that stood out to me about Elijah is just how hard he ran,” Bhonapha said in the spring about Tau-Tolliver. “… Even with what was going on in front of him (with the injuries along the offensive line at Sacramento State), he was still able to break tackles and make things happen.”

Makhi Frazier, sophomore

Makhi Frazier signed with Michigan State in December of 2023 and enrolled in the summer of 2024.

He was able to get some valuable experience as a true freshman in 2024, as Frazier played in nine games. Frazier recorded seven carries for 21 yards (3.0 yards per carry) and one reception for 12 yards. Entering his second year in college, Frazier is looking to create a much bigger role for himself in 2025.

Frazier — who was originally committed to Smith, Lindgren and Bhonapha while they were at Oregon State and followed them to Michigan State — noted during the spring that the limited playing time he received in the fall helped him to prepare for the future. He also discussed what he is looking to accomplish entering his sophomore campaign.

“Just being able to adapt to the speed of the game, and being able to know what we’re doing at all times, and being able to play fast like everybody else has been able to, like the older guys,” Frazier previously said when asked what the next steps are for his game.

Some traits that Bhonapha likes about the 5-foot-10, 214-pound Frazier are his patience as a runner, contact balance and shiftiness. It will be interesting to see how Frazier is able to develop throughout the fall and what kind of role he can play for the Spartans.

Brandon Tullis, sophomore

Similarly to Frazier, Brandon Tullis enters his second year in East Lansing with a great opportunity to carve out a large role in the offense. Also like Frazier, Tullis was previously committed to Oregon State before ultimately following the coaches to Michigan State. He too signed with the Spartans in December of 2023, but unlike Frazier, Tullis enrolled in January of 2024 and was able to compete in spring ball that year with MSU.

It is fitting that Tullis and Frazier have had similar paths, as both tailbacks hail from Texas and they grew up playing youth football together. Tullis estimates that he has known Frazier since they were 6 or 7 years old. However, Tullis describes Frazier as more of a “shifty” running back, while he calls himself more of a “hard-nosed” runner.

During the 2024 season, Tullis played in eight games and recorded seven carries for 20 yards (2.9 yards per carry). This past spring marked Tullis’ second with the program, which helps with his comfortability within the offense as his second fall camp approaches.

At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, Tullis is a big back who can fight for extra yards. Like Tau-Tolliver, Bhonapha wants to see Tullis lower his pad level a little bit and run defenders over and fall forward. Bhonapha thinks Tullis can be especially effective in short-yardage and goal line situations.

“That’s the thing I’ve been kind of been coaching with him, and I go back to (him) just being a young guy, understanding, ‘We don’t need you to make guys miss, we need you to run through guys,'” Bhonapha said about Tullis in the spring.

Jace Clarizio, true freshman

It was a whirlwind recruitment for Jace Clarizio — a top-500 overall prospect and the No. 39 running back in the 2025 class — as the East Lansing native originally committed to Michigan State before briefly flipping to Alabama and then flipping back to his hometown Spartans during the early signing period last December.

Clarizio enrolled at Michigan State in January and went through spring practices with the Spartans. He was able to use the time to get acquainted with the offensive system and the playbook and get used to the speed of the college game. Like with any true freshman, there is going to be a big learning curve, especially when it comes to things like pass protection, but Clarizio impressed the MSU coaches with his speed and explosiveness.

“Jace is young,” Bhonapha said about Clarizio in the spring. “I think the one thing with young guys is, I go back to they just don’t know what they don’t know. But Jace has been really productive once he’s gotten the ball in his hands. I think the second half of the spring has been better for him than the first half. He was drinking through a firehose, for lack of a better term, when he first got here. Now, his body is starting to catch up with the things that he knows. I think he catches the ball well out of the backfield, I think he’s very explosive, I think he he has really good feet and the change of direction that you look for.

“I think all of the things that we recruited him for, we’re getting really good flashes of it this second half of spring. Now, we’ve got to continue to build on his football intelligence when it comes to (pass) protection and just understanding the process of the day-to-day of being a college football player here at Michigan State, but we’re really excited about what the future has for him.”

Bhonapha, who also coaches the special teams, mentioned that first and foremost, the staff wants to focus on the running back position for Clarizio, but noted that he has the “burst” to return kicks as well.

Clarizio likely won’t be in a position where he has to play a lot of reps early, but it will be something to monitor as the 2025 season progresses, and he is somebody who could make a large impact by the time his career is over.

Zion Gist, true freshman

For the second consecutive cycle, Michigan State signed two running backs in the 2025 class with Clarizio and Zion Gist (Frazier and Tullis in the 2024 cycle). Gist, a three-star prospect, committed to the Spartans in late November of 2024 and signed with the Spartans in December of that year.

The Lincoln-Way East High School (Frankfort, Illinois) product was previously committed to Western Michigan before flipping to MSU late in the process. Gist dealt with an injury his senior year and flew under the radar for much of his recruitment, but the Spartans saw him as a good fit.

Like Clarizio, Gist enrolled at Michigan State in January and went through his first spring ball with the Spartans. The extra time on campus and within the program allowed him to acclimate to life as a college athlete and gives him a leg up with the playbook and offensive scheme heading into his first fall camp.

It feels unlikely that Gist will see many carries in 2025, but Bhonapha looks forward to what kind of player Gist will be able to develop into as his career progresses.

“Zion, just another young guy who I think has some promise for this program, has been ‘steady Eddie,'” Bhonapha said about Gist in the spring. “Excited (about him) because he’s more of that smooth-type guy. Where that fits, I’m not sure yet, but at the same time, I’m excited about what the future holds.”

Other running backs on the roster

• Chris Williams, redshirt junior walk-on, Henry Ford II, yet to see game action
• Jaxon McCaig, redshirt freshman preferred walk-on, Plymouth, did not see game action and redshirted in 2024
• Darrin Jones Jr., true freshman preferred walk-on, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
• Jay Coyne, fullback, redshirt junior, 15 career games played, one career catch for 12 yards