MSU's Izzo Gives Thoughts on Smith Firing, Upcoming Game vs. Iowa

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo gave his thoughts on the school's Sunday firing of head football coach Jonathan Smith for the first time on Monday afternoon.

"I hate what's happened to Jonathan Smith," Izzo said. "I hate what's happened because things did not go as well as I would like them. But more importantly, things did not go as well as he would like. I didn't talk to him every week; I talked to him before every game. There were a lot of things that were issues, but a lot of things were beyond his control."

Izzo also spoke at length about his seventh-ranked team's upcoming Big Ten opener against Iowa on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, Peacock). The Hawkeyes were the first team left off the AP Poll on Monday, essentially ranking them 26th in the country.

A complete video of Izzo's eventful presser has been provided by Spartan Nation below.

Watch Tom Izzo here:

More from Izzo on Smith, Fitzgerald

Izzo was also asked if he would support the hiring of Pat Fitzgerald to replace Smith, the former 17-year head coach of Northwestern.

"I could support whoever they put in front of me," Izzo said. "I really mean that, because I think they'll do their due diligence and try to come up with the best fit for our program. I do know Pat a little bit; I know what he's done there [at Northwestern]."

Support for the football program has never been in question with Izzo, but he's always been willing to stick up for other coaches that he sees going through a tougher time. Izzo was stumping for Iowa to keep Fran McCaffery last March after the Spartans won in Iowa City while the Hawkeyes were having a tough season, for example. Iowa did, in fact, fire McCaffery and replaced him with Ben McCollum.

"Everybody knows the UCLA game here was a tough game," Izzo said. "We didn't look good.It wasn't a good look in general, but if you don't think Tom Izzo's had a few of those games... I mean, I was down 30 to Memphis at halftime. We've all gone through it. But what really impressed me is to get yourself off the ground and continue is what we're paid for, to get your players off the ground to continue [is another thing]."

Still, Izzo knows the value and importance of having a successful football program for an athletic department.

"[All the other sports] just don't match up to football," he said. "We put them all together and we probably are as important as half of a football program. And that's not insulting. That's not demeaning to the rest of us. That's, as my son would say, 'Those are facts.'"

Keep up with all our content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts on the hiring of Pat Fitzgerald when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.