What If He Were To Leave? By guest columnist Mike Henne.
By Michael Henne
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A very close friend and MSU alumnus posed a question to me recently; will Tom ever leave Michigan State for another coaching job? This is a question that none of us really want to think about, but we must. As members of the Spartan Nation, I am asking each of you to reflect on the joy that Tom Izzo has brought you and your families since taking the reigns of MSU’s basketball program.Â
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Before Tom seized basketball dominance in the state of Michigan, it was a stalemate with U-M on the very best years. We were listening to the Detroit media crow about superior Wolverine recruiting classes that we all have learned that at least some were blatantly purchased. Not even the Wolverine boosters have been able to beat “honest Tom†on the recruiting trail. He wowed us with the signing of the “Flintstones,†he dazzled us with nine minute defensive stretches that would not yield a single basket and he has amazed us all with his small town, blue collar, humble approach. His approach has lasted through four final fours, four Big Ten championships and a national championship.
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Before Tom Izzo, Michigan State fans were still trying to hold onto the last great coaching legacy Duffy Daugherty. We were constantly being reminded that the Wolverines had Bo and this was a happiness that we’d never really know again. This past Spartan basketball season ended with a narrow loss to a North Carolina team that was easily more talented. It amazes me that Izzo and his coaches got the twenty-three wins from this roster. As silly as it sounds, this is the bar that Tom has set for the MSU basketball program.  On a “down†year we will compete effectively in the conference, we will play defense like it is our artistic expression, we will out-rebound and out-scrap any team who dare visit the Breslin Center or invites us to their floor. We will have a twenty-win season and our Spartans will make the NCAA tournament for a tenth straight year. Those were Tom Izzo’s preseason expectations and he soldiered this team through freak injuries and physical and emotional collapses in energy. There wasn’t a coach in America that did more with less. It was a season defined by his principals and the blue-collar character of Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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So, what if Tom were to leave Michigan State tomorrow? Would our fan base show the class and respect that Tom and his family deserve? Would he leave knowing that he was loved and truly appreciated? Would the Spartan Nation take time to relive the moments without spurning the man who put MSU back in the national basketball spotlight? A man who took time out of his sleepless schedule to help find and hire our new football coach? A man who demands accountability from his players, the MSU fans and the media that judges us all. If Tom leaves Michigan State, I think some tears will be warranted but a thank-you would be most appropriate.
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I am not saying he is leaving, I am asking that when that day comes, how will the Spartan Nation deal with it?
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