What Kenny Soares Jr. Provides MSU Out of Transfer Portal

Only one player on Michigan State's roster has been a part of a Pat Fitzgerald team before.

That person is Kenny Soares Jr., who began his career at Northwestern in 2022 during Fitzgerald's last year with the Wildcats. After two more seasons with NU and one year with N.C. State, Soares is going full circle and joining Fitzgerald again for his redshirt senior season.

Soares' Career So Far

Coming out of Trumbull, Conn., Soares was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school. He chose Northwestern over other offers from Colorado, Indiana, and Maryland. Soares appeared in four games during his freshman year with Fitzgerald, totaling 13 defensive snaps and 23 special teams snaps.

He stuck around the Wildcats program after Fitzgerald's firing. Soares played in 12 games with five starts during his redshirt freshman year, totaling 37 tackles with two sacks to help Northwestern to a surprising 8-5 season. The next year, Soares' role decreased a little bit, which might have fueled his choice to enter the portal during the spring window.

Dec 19, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; NC State Wolfpack defensive back Tristan Teasdell (19) and linebacker Jr. Kenny Soares (33) react after a play against the Memphis Tigers in the second quarter during the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Soares then soared with the Wolfpack last season. He was second on the team with 80 tackles for the season, playing in all 13 of NCSU's games with some starts at middle linebacker. During the offseason, Soares decided to transfer once again.

That's where MSU comes in. On3 ranked him 386th overall among all the portal entrants this cycle, one of the top marks for one of the Spartans' newest players. He was also 28th among linebackers—the only thing is that Michigan State doesn't seem to be planning to have him at linebacker.

Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerald looks on during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Role Change for Soares

Soares has been a linebacker his entire career. That's what he was as a recruit at Northwestern and at N.C. State. Fitzgerald and Michigan State have him listed as an EDGE, though.

This doesn't necessarily mean Soares will be constantly rushing the passer. MSU is looking to use him as a rush end, a hybrid between a traditional linebacker and a defensive end. It's one of those quirky positions that isn't necessarily unique to defensive coordinator Joe Rossi's system, but not too many teams have a devoted position group for it.

Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi calls out to the defense during the football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Playing rush end means that Soares will be working with rush ends coach Andrew Bindelglass the most. Bindelglass was the team's assistant linebackers coach last season and was retained and promoted.

Anelu Lafaele and Isaac Smith are two of the other notable names in Bindelglass's group. Soares has only 3.0 career sacks, but he will still be quite useful in the run game with his experience at linebacker (Smith is a bit stronger in the run game, too). Lafaele specializes a bit more as a pass rusher; 60 of his 68 defensive snaps last season were either pass-rushing or coverage snaps before he suffered a foot injury that cut his year short.

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