Why Pat Fitzgerald Fits Michigan State’s Rebuild

Kirk Herbstreit and Joey Galloway praise MSU’s hire after years of instability

Michigan State Spartans head coach Pat Fitzgerald, center, poses with a namesake jersey next to MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz, left, and athletic director J Batt, right, during Fitzgerald's introductory press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Michigan State’s new football head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, has been recognized as one of the stronger hires in this year’s coaching carousel. After firing Jonathan Smith following a disappointing 4–8 season, MSU turned to Fitzgerald in hopes of restoring the program to national respectability.

Fitzgerald spent 17 seasons at Northwestern and is the school’s all-time winningest coach, recording 110 career victories. His tenure ended amid controversy, but after being cleared of the investigation, Fitzgerald became available and now faces the task of rebuilding a Michigan State program that has struggled in recent years.

Recently, two of college football’s most prominent analysts praised the Spartans’ decision to hire Fitzgerald. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and Joey Galloway spoke highly of the move on their podcast NonStop, expressing confidence that Fitzgerald can return Michigan State to the level it reached under former head coach Mark Dantonio.

Herbstreit noted that Fitzgerald reminds him of Dantonio and emphasized the importance of reestablishing the program’s identity. According to Herbstreit, Michigan State has lacked a clear identity since Dantonio’s departure—something Fitzgerald is well equipped to restore.

Michigan State's new football coach Pat Fitzgerald hypes up the Izzone before the Spartans basketball game against Iowa on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Michigan State’s brand has been gone,” Herbstreit said. “You know what Mark Dantonio did there. He had them as a top-five, top-10 team year in and year out for about a four- or five-year run. Since then, they’ve been searching, and I think they landed on a superstar. Those of us from the Big Ten region know what Pat Fitzgerald can do.”

“To me, he’s the perfect Big Ten coach,” Galloway said. “He’s hard-nosed, gets his teams ready to play, and finds ways to win games they’re not supposed to win. That’s what made him so successful at Northwestern, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does at Michigan State.”

Fitzgerald has already made early progress in East Lansing, retaining redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and assembling a strong defensive coaching staff. He has also kept 19 of Michigan State’s 20 commits intact in the 2026 high school recruiting class.

Sep 7, 2024; College Park, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of Michigan State Spartans helmet on the field before the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

With early praise from national analysts and tangible progress on the roster and recruiting trail, Fitzgerald’s tenure at Michigan State is off to a promising start. While the rebuild will take time, the Spartans appear to have found a coach capable of restoring the program’s identity and reestablishing Michigan State as a competitive force in the Big Ten.

Keep up with all our content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts on Coen Carr's game vs. Toledo when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.

Never again miss one major story related to your beloved Spartans when you sign up for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes straight to your email with the latest news. SIGN UP HERE NOW