While Jonathan Smith is still employed by Michigan State, there’s a good chance that J Batt and the athletic department may soon be spearheading a coaching search.
Smith is 8-12 through his first 20 games as a Spartan, which is especially concerning when you consider that the two seasons before he was hired resulted in more wins. The Spartans had nine wins from 2022 to 2023, but Smith is on pace to finish 3-9 or 4-8 in his second season with Michigan State which is fireable.
Everyone is giving their choices as the best candidates to replace Smith, and some former Spartan reporters are even joining in on the fun.
Joe Rexrode, a beloved former Michigan State reporter, gave his opinion on Michigan State’s next head coach if the school decides to move on from Smith. Unfortunately, it’s a name that I don’t think a lot of Michigan State fans are going to love.
Rexrode goes with Pat Fitzgerald. I don't hate it. https://t.co/HeazhJKSpN
— Jeff Dillon (@jeffrdillon) October 29, 2025
Rexrode wrote who he believed would be the best fit at each program looking for a new coach, and according to this tweet, he has Michigan State ending up with Pat Fitzgerald.
And I hate it.
Fitzgerald was a winner at Northwestern, but as we’ve seen with Joe Rossi, it may not be ideal to try and hire a former Big Ten West coach because they benefitted from coaching in an easier division.
Also, Fitzgerald would have successful seasons, but also 3-9 or 4-8 campaigns mixed in. He finished his Northwestern career by going 4-20 over his final two seasons and was fired after news broke of a hazing incident happening under his watch. Obviously not the best circumstance for firing — Michigan State would probably like to avoid bad headlines after the Mel Tucker saga.
Fitzgerald is a good coach and would probably get Michigan State back to bowl eligibility more often than not, but he’s not going to be a “top-10 athletic department” hire like J Batt would want.
This isn’t a home run hire, it’d be more like a bloop single.