Michigan State Set to Hire Former Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald

Shortly after Michigan State fired football coach Jonathan Smith on Sunday after two seasons, it was reported by the Detroit Free Press that the Spartans plan to hire former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to replace Smith.

Fitzgerald spent 17 seasons at Northwestern from 2006–22 before he was fired in the summer of ‘23. He posted a 110-101 overall record in that span. This will be Fitzgerald’s first college coaching job since his firing.

The coach was notably fired from the Wildcats program after deeply troubling reports of hazing within the program came out in 2023. Fitzgerald was initially given a two-week suspension, and later fired by the program after an internal investigation “largely corroborated” the complaints issued by an anonymous whistleblower.

Fitzgerald sued the school for wrongful termination, and after two years, the two sides settled for an undisclosed amount in August. Northwestern’s statement on the settlement thanked Fitzgerald for his time with the university and supported his assertion that he did not know about or condone the hazing found within the program.

Fitzgerald takes over the Spartans as the program is currently on a three-year probation for violating rules by having three ineligible players participate when Mel Tucker was coach from 2020–23. The program also had to vacate all 14 of their wins from the 2022, ‘23 and ‘24 seasons. Tucker was fired by Michigan State in ‘23 as well, but his firing came after he was accused of sexual harassment.

Michigan State went 4–8 overall and 1–8 in the Big Ten conference this season. The Spartans had an eight-game losing streak, but ended the year on Saturday with a win over Maryland.

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