What Grade Michigan State’s Hire of Pat Fitzgerald Gets
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Pat Fitzgerald has been officially named the new head coach of Michigan State football. After letting Jonathan Smith go, a day after winning against Maryland, J Batt wasted no time in finding the next head coach.
Fitzgerald was the former head coach of Northwestern from 2006-2023. In his 17 years as the head coach, Northwestern had 10 winning seasons and was 5-5 in bowl games. Before the 2023 season, Fitzgerald was let go after allegations of hazing within the program.
Since being let go, Fitzgerald had sued Northwestern and ultimately settled the lawsuit. For the past three years, Fitzgerald has not been coaching in college sports, but was eager to get back into coaching.
The Athletic’s Chris Vannini has released his grades for all college football head coaching hirings so far this season. Vannini’s grade for Michigan State was a B-.
Vannini states that Fitzgerald is someone who won games at Northwestern and “knows the Midwest”. Vannini also states that Fitzgerald has only won four games in his final two seasons and hasn't had much success in the NIL era of college football
Full Quote:
“A lot to unpack here. Fitzgerald won a bunch of games over a lot of years at a Northwestern program with almost no winning history, and he knows the Midwest. He will be a lot different from West Coast native Jonathan Smith, whose personality never seemed to fit. The donors are behind this Fitzgerald hire, and that’s as important as anything, as the Spartans have been behind financially.”
“But it’s also a surprising that a school still dealing with the fallout from multiple sexual misconduct scandals would hire a coach whose previous program had a hazing scandal, even though Fitzgerald was found to not have knowledge of it. He also won only four games in his final two seasons as head coach."
"How much of that was the natural disadvantage Northwestern had in the NIL era? How much has Fitzgerald learned about the modern game in his three years away from the sideline? And are Spartans donors about to pour much-needed money into the roster?”
Michigan State athletics is turning a new leaf. The athletics department has announced its new one billion dollar financial campaign that will include renovations to both Spartan Stadium and the Breslin Center. Hopefully, Pat Fitzgerald can bring Michigan State football back to being not only respectable in the BigTen but also nationally.
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