Michigan State hires ex-Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald after firing Jonathan Smith

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Michigan State has hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to lead its football program.

The announcement on Monday comes a day after the Spartans fired Jonathan Smith two seasons into his seven-year contract.

“Pat Fitzgerald is widely recognized as an exceptional football coach, whose teams play with extreme toughness and grit, demonstrate continual improvement and maximize potential,” Michigan State athletic director J Batt said in a statement announcing the hiring. “Pat is an excellent fit for Michigan State Football, as he understands the Big Ten, has great relationships throughout the Midwest and embodies the values on which our program was built.”

Fitzgerald has been out of coaching for two seasons following a hazing scandal at Northwestern that led to his firing. The 50-year-old coach reached a settlement with Northwestern in August, two years after he sued the university for wrongful termination. Details of the settlement were not made public.

Fitzgerald will be tasked with restoring the reputation of a program that has run into problems on and off the field since the retirement of Mark Dantonio, its winningest coach who brought stability and success to the school referred to as “little brother” in the state.

“This is a program with a deep and storied tradition, a passionate fan base, and a commitment to excellence that extends far beyond the football field,” Fitzgerald said. “What excited me most about this opportunity was the vision for what Michigan State can be for years to come. We will restore tradition, and I’m eager to earn the trust of our players, alumni and fans while competing at the highest level.”

Fitzgerald's Northwestern teams had a similar underdog identity. A former All-America linebacker at the school that prides itself on academics over athletics, Fitzgerald led the Wildcats to Big Ten West championships in 2018 and 2020 and five bowl victories.

He was voted Big Ten coach of the year in 2018, beating Dantonio's 20th-ranked Spartans on the road among four wins over AP Top 25 teams.

It all came crashing down in 2023, when former Northwestern football players started filing lawsuits alleging sexual abuse and racial discrimination on the team. Similar allegations spread across several sports.

Fitzgerald denied wrongdoing and sued for $130 million. He alleged the school illegally terminated his employment and damaged his reputation, among other things. His case was set to go to trial this month.

Fitzgerald starred on the 1995 Northwestern team that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl.

He was 110-101 in 17 seasons as Northwestern’s coach. Over his final two seasons, though, Northwestern was 4-20.

Michigan State lost eight of its last nine games to finish 4-8 this season. Two of its top players, star receiver Nick Marsh and running back Makhi Frazier, indicated on social media this week that they've entered the transfer portal.

Smith's overall record at MSU was 9-15 and just 4-14 in the Big Ten. He is due more than $30 million, according to terms of his contract.

Smith was 34-35 over six seasons at Oregon State, winning at least eight games in consecutive seasons for the first time in more than a decade at his alma mater. He went 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten during his debut season last year. His seat got warm when athletic director Alan Haller, who hired him, left the school last May.

Expectations were low for this season and the results were worse.

The Spartans followed up wins against Western Michigan, Boston College and Youngstown State with an 0-8 start in Big Ten play. They lost to USC, Nebraska, UCLA, Indiana and Michigan by double digits before blowing a late lead and losing at Minnesota by three points in overtime. The only league win came Saturday against Maryland.

Smith benched quarterback Aidan Chiles, who followed him from Oregon State, against the Golden Gophers and gave redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic a shot to start perhaps with an eye toward the future the coach no longer has at Michigan State.

The program has struggled since Dantonio retired and ended a record-breaking, 13-year run with consecutive 7-6 seasons and a .500 Big Ten record over two years.

With limited choices in the winter of 2020, inexperienced athletic director Bill Beekman hired Mel Tucker after he went 5-7 in one season at Colorado and had ties to the school as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban.

Tucker led the Spartans to an 11-2 record in 2021 and the school rewarded him with a $95 million, 10-year contract. The school fired him early in the 2023 season after he said he had consensual phone sex with an activist and rape survivor.

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