What MSU Football Pays Its 3 Coordinators in 2026

Here is a glance at the kind of money Michigan State's top assistants are making.

Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi runs to the locker room before the game against Penn State on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There is always a money side to sports these days.

Money was a key component when Michigan State was considering firing Jonathan Smith. MSU, obviously, did do that, and will pay Smith more than $30 million over the course of the next five years (offset by whatever his next job is). Now, the Spartans are also paying Pat Fitzgerald an incentive-laden deal that starts him with a salary of $5 million, which increases by $500,000 each year throughout the five-year contract.

Michigan State Spartans head coach Pat Fitzgerald addresses fans during a men's basketball game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Breslin Center. Fitzgerald had been formally introduced earlier that day. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Now it's time to discuss the coordinator's salary. Fitzgerald's contract stipulates that he has an annual budget of $12.12 million to put his assistant coaching staff together, which is a very competitive number. The largest salaries are going to go to MSU's offensive, defensive, and special teams coordinators. Fitzgerald retained Joe Rossi to coach the defense and hired Nick Sheridan to be the OC and LeVar Woods to run the special teams units.

Spartan Nation has obtained copies of the contracts of Rossi, Sheridan, and Woods through a public records request. Here's what they're being paid and some additional information on their deals:

DC Joe Rossi

Michigan State's defensive coordinator Joe Rossi gives instructions while working with linebackers during camp on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the indoor practice facility in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rossi will be Michigan State's top-paid assistant coach for 2026. He's set to make $1.7 million for his work during the course of this coming season.

Next fall will be Rossi's third season running the Spartans' defense. He came over from Minnesota to join Smith's staff in East Lansing. What is interesting is that Rossi's contract got extended back in August 2025 by one year, through the end of the 2027 season. Assuming Rossi is still a part of Michigan State's staff for that, he'll make $1.7 million again.

Also worth noting is that linebackers coach Max Bullough has the co-defensive coordinator label as well, though Rossi will still be the primary defensive coordinator. Bullough's contract runs through the 2027 season, with an annual base salary of $750,000 per year.

OC Nick Sheridan

Dec 19, 2025; Norman, OK, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan against the Oklahoma Sooners during the CFP National Playoff First Round at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the new hires for MSU is offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, who comes to East Lansing after having previously been the co-OC and quarterbacks coach at Alabama. Sheridan is set to receive $1.4 million this year as part of his three-year contract with Michigan State. He's set to earn $1.5 million during the 2027 season and $1.6 million for 2028.

Sheridan is actually set to make a bit less money than if he had stayed at Alabama. According to a report from AL.com, Sheridan would have made $1.55 million during the '26 season there. That means he's essentially taking a $150,000 pay cut to both move back to his home state of Michigan and regain his playcalling duties elsewhere.

STC LeVar Woods

Iowa football’s special teams coordinator LeVar Woods speaks to the media Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The biggest splash hire Fitzgerald and Michigan State made was the hiring of LeVar Woods. Getting Woods away from his alma mater, which he had been coaching at since 2008, was always going to cost a couple pretty pennies.

MSU is set to pay Woods $1.1 million for the 2026 season. His deal runs for three total years, and Woods will get a $100,000 raise each successive year. According to a list put together by FootballScoop, Woods' salary would be the second-largest for a special teams coordinator in all of college football during the 2025 season. The list also says Woods made $775,000 this past year at Iowa, meaning he received a $325,000 raise from the Spartans.

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

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