Pat Fitzgerald Hires Former NU Player as MSU Chief of Staff
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More names are starting to pour in for Pat Fitzgerald's inaugural coaching staff at Michigan State.
Spartan Nation had already reported that Fitzgerald is getting $12.12 million each year to get his entire staff together. The latest name to be hired is Jacob Schmidt, who will become MSU's new chief of staff. Schmidt's X account indicates that the hiring has been made official.
Fitzgerald knows Schmidt from their time at Northwestern together, where Schmidt was the director of football operations. He also got some experience in the NIL sphere, helping launch the collective "TrueNU" at Northwestern, before it was shut down when revenue-sharing began. That indicates that Schmidt could be very involved in Michigan State's NIL efforts, which could be used to draw recruits to East Lansing and retain top talent.
Schmidt was also one of Fitzgerald's players. He walked onto the Wildcats' team in 2007 and ended up becoming a regular fixture in NU's offense at the end of his career there. Schmidt had 853 rushing yards, 491 receiving yards, and 11 total touchdowns during his playing career.
More on Schmidt, MSU's Staff
Overall, this is the first off-field hire that Fitzgerald has made so far. There are still plenty of vacancies for him to fill, both on the field and on the administrative side of things.
The only part that has any true clarity is the defensive side of the ball, as Fitzgerald has made Joe Rossi and Max Bullough co-coordinators, with Bullough coaching the linebackers, and Fitzgerald has also retained safeties coach James Adams. MSU's next defensive line coach is reportedly going to be Winston DeLattiboudere, who was with Rossi at Minnesota and was coaching the defensive line of the Arizona Cardinals.
Additionally, Fitzgerald hired Joel Welsh to run the team's strength and conditioning program. The decision on who will be the offensive coordinator is still either TBA or TBD, along with a few other notable positions, like running backs coach, wide receivers coach, defensive line coach, and special teams coordinator.
Those decisions are going to be key, and perhaps Fitzgerald is taking his time and thoroughly going through his options, especially with his assistant pool of money that is among the nation's largest. Fitzgerald's contract also essentially stipulates that any hires must get final approval from athletic director J Batt and go through background checks, which may slow the process a bit.
Regardless, more positions are likely to be filled in the coming weeks, as MSU will need as close to a full picture it can get to sell to transfer portal prospects once the portal opens up on Jan. 2. Schmidt's domain of NIL is always important these days, but players do still care about the type of people they'll be playing for, too, whether that be the head coach, coordinator, or position coach.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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