Grade Revealed for Michigan State’s New Head Coach Hire
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After firing head coach Jonathan Smith at 2:30 PM EST, Michigan State Football has hired its new head coach just hours later. Former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald will be the new head coach of Michigan State.
Fitzgerald had an overall record of 110-101 during his 17 years at Northwestern, and holds the most wins in program history. Fitzgerald also went to 10 bowl games and had a 5-5 record in bowl games.
The Pat Fitzgerald hire seems to be a good hire according to CBS Sports Brad Crawford. Crawford spoke highly of Fitzgerald.
“Ultimately, I would give this grade a B. I think Pat Fitzgerald is an upgrade over Jonathan Smith, because he has won over 100 games before at a Big 10 program, and he did it with fewer resources at Northwestern.”
Crawford would go on to explain how Fitzgerald can change the culture at Michigan State and the style of play into more of a physical team that can run the ball effectively.
“And obviously this is going to be a philosophical and schematic change in East Lansing, maybe closer to what we saw under Mark Dantonio, with the run game, really good offensive line play, kind of a Wisconsin style ball versus what we saw the last couple years under Jonathan Smith pass heavy.”
There are some question marks regarding Fitzgerald, both on and off the field. Both deal with how the last few years at Northwestern ended.
On the Field
During the 2020 Covid season, Northwestern had a 7-2 record and would finish the year ranked 10th in the country. The next year, in 2021, NIL and the transfer portal would become more prevalent in college athletics. Northwestern would finish the 2021 and 2022 seasons with a combined 4-20 record. It will be interesting to see how he has evolved since being away from coaching.
Fitzgerald has been away from coaching for a few seasons and won't be bringing in any players or coaches. He is going to have to completely rebuild this roster and his coaching staff from the ground up.
Off the Field
Fitzgerald was let go as the head coach of Northwestern amid widespread hazing within the program. Fitzgerald has denied the claims and has said publicly that he did not have any knowledge of hazing around his program.
Fitzgerald would later sue Northwestern for 130 million dollars in a wrongful termination lawsuit. Ultimately, Northwestern and Fitzgerald would agree to settle in 2025, as there was no evidence found that Fitzgerald knew about the reported hazing within the program.
Pat Fitzgerald is a different coach compared to Jonathan Smith. Someone who knows the midwest more and is someone who builds within the trenches and running game is needed at MSU. Hopefully, Fitzgerald can lead Michigan State back to being a respectable team in the BigTen.
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