Tom Izzo has been with the Michigan State Spartans for a long time. He was hired as the head basketball coach in 1995 and has been a Spartan ever since, as he’s carved out a legendary coaching career.
If there’s anybody qualified to speak on the hiring of a new coach at Michigan State, it would be Izzo. That’s why it’s notable that he’s put his weight behind the hiring of former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald to replace Jonathan Smith as the school’s football head coach.
Fitzgerald was known for his longevity at Northwestern. A former All-American linebacker for the Wildcats, he was the head coach for 17 seasons and racked up a 110-101 overall record, which ranked him 14th in all-time wins amongst Big Ten coaches.
He’d be a homerun hire for the Spartans if it weren’t for the way his tenure at Northwestern finished. He was
He was fired because of a team hazing scandal and culture, in which he may or may not have had knowledge of. He denied wrongdoing and sued Northwestern for $130M for illegal termination and damage to his reputation. In August, the two sides reached a settlement in which the details weren’t disclosed.
Considering all that, Izzo relayed recently that he still supports the hiring of Fitzgerald because he understands the process Michigan State has gone through to hire him.
“I could support whoever they put in front of me,” Izzo said, according to Daniel Hager of On3. “I really mean that because I think they’ll do their due diligence and come up with the best fit for our program. I do know Pat a little bit. I know what he’s done (at Northwestern). You know, there are so many rumors that come out of these things right off the bat and I will say this: I think a lot of things happened quicker. That’s another problem.”
Tom Izzo backs Michigan State hiring Pat Fitzgerald
Izzo went into a bit of a rant about the calendar in college football and how it has become antiquated in the NIL and transfer portal era. If you need any proof of how crazy it has become, just look at how Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU, right in the middle of a College Football Playoff run.
The future Hall of Fame coach made some good points about the speed at which everything is happening now in the college football world, but that doesn’t mean he thinks the Spartans rushed into the firing of Smith and then the quick hiring of Fitzgerald to replace him.
The Spartans could have brought in anybody, as he tells it, and he’d support them because he supports the university and athletic department.
“One thing I am is a team guy. I don’t care who they get or who they hire … I’m going to be supportive of that person,” Izzo said. “I am hoping that we get someone who fits us and our program, because the players and the fans here deserve that.”
Michigan State has gone just 58-61 over the past 10 seasons. It was 10 seasons ago when the football program arguably hit its apex under former head coach Mark Dantonio, who led the Spartans to the College Football Playoff.
There’s a lot of work left to do to bring the Spartans back up that mountain, but MSU clearly believes Fitzgerald is the right guy for the job. As such, Izzo believes so as well.
