EAST LANSING — Pat Fitzgerald pointed to a scab on the back of his knuckle. It represented much of the back story for Michigan State football’s new coach.
Who he was as a player: A tough-nosed linebacker and one of the best to do it in Big Ten history as a two-time All-American and a College Football Hall of Famer.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWho he has been as a coach: A gritty and fiery leader who guided his alma mater Northwestern – one of the hardest places to win in the nation, much less the Big Ten.
Who he is as a person: And how he survived his self-described “sabbatical” after getting fired for a hazing scandal in 2023, sitting out three seasons and being “vindicated” by an out-of-court settlement to restore his tarnished reputation.
Michigan State's new football coach Pat Fitzgerald speaks during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Tom Izzo Football Building in East Lansing.WATCH IT: Pat Fitzgerald press conference video at Michigan State
“I love and adore my players. And I love and adore their families,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday, Dec. 2. “And to get that ripped away from me, that knocked me down. That rocked me to the core.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I cut my hand the other day, and now it’s kind of healing. And eventually, there will probably a little bit of a scar.”
That process began Tuesday, on his 51st birthday, as Fitzgerald was named MSU’s 27th coach, replacing Jonathan Smith. Fitzgerald said he had a Zoom meeting Monday with the team and made it a priority to meet with them in person among his first duties when he arrived on campus Tuesday morning.
He said he also empathized with Smith, his friend who was fired Sunday after going 9-15 in just two seasons with the Spartans. Fitzgerald said he and Smith also spoke Monday.
“As I was walking out of the team room here for the first time, the (players) cornered me and all started grabbing me,” said Fitzgerald, who went 110-101 over 17 seasons coaching at Northwestern from 2006-22. “I wanted to make sure they knew how I felt about coach Smith. And not only selfishly because of my friendship, but because I can only imagine how they felt – how my guys felt when I got taken away from my guys, and how they felt when they lost their coach. And that’s just part of this process now. …
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I just want them to know that I genuinely care and I understand what they’re going through.”
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MSU released its terms for a five-year contract on Tuesday that starts at $5 million in base pay for the 2026 season and increases annually by $500,000 to $7 million in 2030. It is laced with incentives, including adding a year and a $500,000 salary increase for each season he reaches seven wins over the first three seasons of the deal. With seven-win seasons in each of the first three years of the deal, Fitzgerald would be owed $54 million over eight seasons.
Because Fitzgerald has been out of coaching, MSU does not need to pay a buyout for him; the school owes Smith about $33.5 million on the remaining $39 million-plus on the seven-year, $53 million deal he signed to replace Mel Tucker in November 2023. Tucker also is suing MSU for wrongful termination and the nearly $75 million he was owed when he was fired, a case that remains in civil court and unresolved.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementShould Fitzgerald take another job, he would owe MSU $6.5 million before Dec. 31, 2026; $5 million in 2027; $4 million in 2028; $3 million in 2029; and $1 million in 2030. If the school fires Fitzgerald during his tenure, MSU would owe him 72.5% of his remaining deal.
The full contract will be finalized by the Dec. 12 meeting of the MSU Board of Trustees. It is the first major coaching hire for athletic director J Batt, who himself was hired away from Georgia Tech in June.
SHAWN WINDSOR: Pat Fitzgerald has baggage, but he could be perfect for Michigan State
“It’s my job as athletic director to be prepared, to always be cognizant of the market, cognizant of opportunities in the market,” Batt said Tuesday, answering questions for the first time since firing Smith after a 4-8 season. “As the season progressed, it became increasingly something we needed to pay attention to, and we certainly did that.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBatt would not say when he made the decision to fire Smith or when he identified Fitzgerald as his primary candidate, but a source told the Free Press that MSU likely would have retained Smith if Fitzgerald – who had interest from more than a half-dozen other programs during this season after his lawsuit was settled – turned down the Spartans, like then-Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell did in 2020.
“There was a process involved with that. J and I had weekly conversations around how the season was going, and I was there to support him along the way,” said MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz, who like Batt and Fitzgerald also complimented Smith for his professionalism and work ethic. “Last week, in that last meeting we had down in Florida (for MSU basketball’s tournament in Fort Myers), we were having a conversation. I think (the decision) was still evolving at that point. But I knew we had the right athletic director that was going to find the right football coach if we decided collectively that change needed to be made.”
Michigan State's new football coach Pat Fitzgerald, left, his wife Stacy and two of their three sons, Brendan and Ryan, pose for a photo after an introductory press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Tom Izzo Football Building in East Lansing.In Fitzgerald, MSU gets someone who understands the Big Ten at every level, having been a player at Northwestern from 1993-96 and becoming the first player in college football history to win both the Nagurski and Bednarik trophies as the nation’s top defensive player in back-to-back years (1995 and 1996). Fitzgerald also has established relationships with basketball coach Tom Izzo and former MSU football coach Mark Dantonio.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Attitude to me is everything. It’s a daily, daily, second-by-second choice,” Fitzgerald said. “And when it comes to the passion, that’s what I want our fans to know. When you’re gonna watch the Spartans play in Spartan Stadium and throughout Big Ten football or wherever we get the privilege to go, you’re gonna see a product on the field that’s going to play fast, tough, physical and with controlled aggression and emotion and passion for each other and for the game.
“It’s gonna take a lot of work. That’s not gonna be an overnight switch. But it’s definitely going to be some of the things that we’re going to reinforce.”
Michigan State's new football coach Pat Fitzgerald and his wife Stacy arrive at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at the Tom Izzo Football Building in East Lansing.And the Spartans also get someone with an understanding for the rivalries MSU has, particularly with Michigan – a sore spot among the fanbase that didn’t think Smith understood as a Southern California native who played and coached at his alma mater, Oregon State.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We know who our rival is, and our guys will know who our rival is every single day,” Fitzgerald said. “But our focus will be on us. We’ve gotta get better, we’ve gotta improve, we’ve gotta get stronger.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pat Fitzgerald on Michigan State football: 'We've gotta get stronger'
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