MSU's Fitzgerald Makes Admiration for Success of Dantonio Clear

The Spartans' new head coach is looking a lot at the success of Mark Dantonio.

Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerald calls out to players during spring football practice on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Stability" hasn't been synonymous with Michigan State football in some time.

There hasn't been stability since Mark Dantonio retired. MSU has only made a bowl game once in the six seasons since and has fired two head coaches. The hope for fans is that Pat Fitzgerald can mirror the stability and the success Dantonio had during his tenure. Fitzgerald feels the same way.

Interview with BTN

April 18, 2026; East Lansing, Mich.; Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald watches the action going on during MSU's "Spring Showcase" at Spartan Stadium. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

"Toughness was born in East Lansing, and Coach D embodied it, and so did his teams," Fitzgerald said during an interview with the Big Ten Network that was released Friday. That's not only physically, but also mentally. I mean, those teams were resilient; they fought, they battled...

"He's been in the building multiple times. He's gonna be every bit a part of what we're trying to build, and he's got the blueprint. He had us in the Final Four not too long ago [during the 2015 season]. As long as he wants to come around, he's always welcome. It's his house, and we're just here to make sure he's proud of it."

Former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio looks on before the game against Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dantonio is the winningest coach in Spartan history with an 114-57 record. He made a bowl game in every season but one, won Big Ten titles in 2010, 2013, and 2015, and also had MSU finish in the AP Top 25 seven times. Michigan State's No. 3 finish in 2013 after winning the Rose Bowl was the best since 1966.

The sport has changed a lot since Dantonio retired. NIL and the transfer portal have changed the entire landscape at a rapid pace. Fitzgerald is still planning on using a more old-school, Dantonio-like approach to building a successful program again in East Lansing, though.

Approach Moving Forward

Michigan State Spartans head football coach Pat Fitzgerald points while introducing himself to the crowd at a men's basketball game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. Fitzgerald was officially hired by MSU on Monday. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

MSU brought in more than 30 players from the transfer portal this offseason. Fitzgerald wants that to be a one-time thing that was out of necessity. He cited a lack of outgoing transfers from his time at Northwestern as something that is part of his vision for the Spartans.

"In early January, we had over 100 families on campus," Fitz said about the portal. "I hope that doesn't happen again. When you go back to my time [at Northwestern], I had the least amount of transfers in the country, and you do that by building relationships. That's what I expect not only myself to do, but everybody in the organization."

Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt speaks during the introductory press conference for new football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Tom Izzo Football Building in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's all with the vision to eventually reach top-10 status again. That's where Dantonio had the program at the peak of his career, and it's where Fitzgerald says he and athletic director J Batt have alignment.

"J is not going to hide and shy away from it," Fitzgerald said. "We want to be back to being a top-10 athletic department, and the football program getting back to where it was with Coach D and a multitude of other coaches; that's what we need to get back to."