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Scott Aligo, the Michigan State Spartans' director of player personnel, is reportedly leaving the program to return to his alma mater, the Kansas Jayhawks, to assume the role of director of scouting.
SOURCES: Michigan State Dir. of Player Personnel Scott Aligo is expected to go home to #Kansas as the Jayhawks new director of scouting. Aligo, a former NFL scout and KU grad, played a key role in MSU landing 16 transfers the past year, should really help Jayhawks on that front.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) May 31, 2021
Aligo came to Michigan State following a one season stint as the director of player personnel at Akron in 2019. Before the Zips, Aligo spent two seasons in that same role at Chattanooga (2017-2018) and at John Carroll (2016) before that.
Aligo indicated he has a special knack at recruitment while with the Spartans, as Michigan State landed 16 transfers over the past year, and Aligo was an integral part of that process. Additions like quarterback Anthony Russo, running backs Harold Joiner III and Kenneth Walker III, and defensive end Drew Jordan, just to name a few, are well regarded transfer additions to the roster.
Aligo was also in charge of putting together the 2021 Michigan State Pro Day. The March event included a unique change this year in that it welcomed former Spartans who graduated from the program back in 2020. Players among them such as Brian Lewerke were unable to have a pro day due to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 that shut down much of the country during the initial weeks that coincided with when the annual even is held.
Before his time at the college level, Aligo spent over seven years in the NFL ranks, first as a player personnel assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2005-2009, and then later as a personnel associate with the Cleveland Browns from 2014-2015.
In between those stints at the pro-level, Aligo served as a defensive ends coach in Northern Colorado (2014), and he was a defensive graduate assistant at Texas A&M (2012-14). The Aggies saw wins in the 2013 AT&T Cotton Bowl and the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl during that time. Before A&M, Aligo was the defensive quality control assistant at Oklahoma State for the 2011 season. He worked with cornerbacks and special teams in a season that saw the Cowboys win both the Big 12 Championship and the Fiesta Bowl. Prior to Oklahoma State, in 2010 Aligo was the primary defensive backs coach at Washburn.
A native of Tonganoxie, Kansas, Aligo earned his bachelor’s degree in education and sports management from Kansas in 2005 and later a master’s degree in recreation, park, and tourism sciences from Texas A&M in 2013.
Aligo leaves an important role to be filled for the Spartans as he returns to his alma mater. The Jayhawks recently hired Lance Leipold as their head coach to replace disgraced former head coach Les Miles, and continue to await a ruling from the NCAA regarding two Level II violations and one Level III violation related to the football program under former coach David Beaty. Those violations were lumped in with the even more egregious five Level I violations accused of the KU basketball program.