​EAST LANSING – For Jordan Hall, being a captain of Michigan State football feels familiar.For Alessio Milivojevic, it is the true passing of the torch as a starting quarterback.For Rhys Dakin, it’s a completely new experience.Hall, Milivojevic and Dakin are three of six captains selected by the Spartans on Monday, Aug. 24, heading into coach Pat Fitzgerald’s debut and the season-opener against Toledo on Sept. 4 (8 p.m., FS1). They are joined by safety Nikai Martinez, center Trent Fraley and defensive end Kenny Soares Jr.Despite MSU’s deep tradition at the position, Dakin is just the third punter in program history to be named captain. The Iowa transfer – who hails from Melbourne, Australia – joins Aaron Bates (2010) and Bryce Baringer (2022) as an elected team leader.FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: NCAA gives Michigan State football another year of WR Rodney Bullard“Honestly, where I was from, it wasn’t really a thing where a specialist could be nominated as a captain,” the junior punter said after practice Monday. “I think it’s pretty exciting from my point of view to be a specialist and to be a captain. I don’t know if it’s really like that around the country, but I feel like I can represent.“I’m just gonna be myself. Not all specialists have to be nerdy and quiet. We can be leaders on the team.”It is typically expected, though, for a quarterback to get the nod. MSU has had a QB as captain every year since 2018 – even though the winningest signal caller in school history (Connor Cook) never was while starting from 2013-15.Milivojevic, who started the final four games last season, takes the title that Aidan Chiles held the two previous years. (Chiles, meanwhile, was named the starter at Northwestern on Monday)“One word I use is consistency,” said Milivojevic, who is from Naperville, Illinois. “Consistency is just being the same guy every day, being that leader. Being the same guy every day is something that teammates look for and want to be around.”Hall – who is on the preseason watch lists for the Bednarik Award (outstanding defensive player), the Butkus Award (nation’s top linebacker) and the Wuerffel Trophy (community service) – is the fMSU defender named a captain in back-to-back seasons since safety Xavier Henderson in 2021-22. The fourth-year senior from Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the first linebacker to receive the honor twice since Joe Bachie in 2018-19.“One of the first things that was addressed was that everybody’s a leader,” said Hall, who also is MSU’s nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team for the second year in row. “We’ve just been given that title for the team, but anybody in the team still has that authority. If that is calling somebody up or holding somebody accountable, everybody has that authority to be a leader on the team.”Hall and Milivojevic are the only two players who have spent the entirety of their college careers (so far) at MSU. Fifth-year senior Martinez is in his