Why Top College Football Analyst Praised Pat Fitzgerald
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Since becoming the new head coach of the Michigan State football program, Pat Fitzgerald has received mixed reviews regarding his fit in East Lansing.
Bill Connelly of ESPN ranked every coaching hire from the most recent college football hiring cycle and placed Fitzgerald last at No. 32. Meanwhile, Chris Vannini of The Athletic offered a more favorable evaluation, giving the hire a grade of B-.
Most underrated leader
While the Fitzgerald hire has not been universally praised—or universally criticized—college football analyst Josh Pate believes Michigan State may have landed the most underrated coach of the entire cycle.
Pate, one of the most recognizable voices in college football media, covers the sport year-round, discussing everything from playoff contenders to offseason coaching moves—even during the sport’s quietest stretches.
Josh Pate Talks Michigan State Football
When asked which program could unexpectedly “crash the playoff party” in the future, Pate didn’t hesitate.
“Michigan State is that program for me,” Pate said. “They just made the underrated hire of the cycle in Pat Fitzgerald, and I don’t know why in the world his name wasn’t involved in more coaching searches.
“Pat Fitzgerald is a phenomenal football coach. Michigan State ended up getting him. It is the steal of the hiring cycle. His pedigree is proven.”
Pate emphasized that Fitzgerald’s résumé speaks for itself, pointing to his ability to build culture and sustain success.
“There’s no mystery as to whether Pat Fitzgerald can coach. There’s no mystery as to whether he can cast a vision,” Pate said. “It’s a new day in East Lansing, Michigan. Now, the difference—if you’re trying to do the whole Indiana copy-and-paste here—is he’s not coming with half a dozen guys with him in the portal. He’s not coming with a staff from his previous stop like Cignetti did. So no, it’s not an apples-to-apples thing.”
Still, Pate believes Michigan State’s infrastructure gives Fitzgerald a strong foundation.
“But Michigan State has Big Ten resources. Don’t kid yourself,” Pate said. “This is not some poverty school. The results have been poverty because they haven’t had the right leadership up there and didn’t make the right hires. I don’t doubt they just made the right hire.”
While Pate is confident Fitzgerald can return Michigan State to national relevance, he did acknowledge that patience may be required.
“Now, how long it takes Pat Fitzgerald to turn it around—that’s the bigger question,” Pate said. “Turnarounds are capable of happening far quicker now than they were a generation ago. So if anybody even remotely pulls off a version of what Indiana has done, Michigan State would be my candidate to come out of nowhere.”
As Pat Fitzgerald begins his tenure in East Lansing, opinions on the hire remain divided.
Yet Josh Pate’s confidence highlights why Michigan State’s leadership believed Fitzgerald was the right choice to guide the program forward. With Big Ten resources, a changing college football landscape, and a proven head coach at the helm, the Spartans may be positioned to surprise sooner rather than later—even if the national consensus hasn’t caught up yet.
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