We are just Javon Ringer (23) days away from Michigan State’s 2026 kickoff and that brings back some good memories. Ringer was one of the best players from the Mark Dantonio era and he was his first running back before the incredible turnaround in the 2010s.
The Dantonio era are birthed one of my favorite phrases: “Why not us?”
Dantonio famously said that line while visiting the Rose Bowl on a trip before the 2013 season. He asked his team “why not us?” when referring to winning the Big Ten and making it to the Rose Bowl and all he did was lead the Spartans to a 13-1 season that was capped off with a thrilling Rose Bowl win over Stanford.
So when Pat Fitzgerald uttered that phrase when he first took the job, it had a lot of Spartan fans feeling nostalgic. He brought up that same phrase to kick off fall camp last week, and it also started an insane hype video that the official MSU football account posted on Tuesday night.
If you weren’t believing in Fitzgerald’s vision before, you will after watching this eight-minute hype video commemorating the start of a new season.
Every season starts with a single question.
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) August 12, 2026
Why not us? pic.twitter.com/8SJTQXpE9g
At the report day meeting, Fitzgerald brought up the “why not us?” mantra once again with the images representing the Big Ten Championship, College Football Playoff, and other major goals and accomplishments behind him on the projector. He told his guys that if they don’t want to push for any of those goals, don’t show up for the rest of camp.
It’s cool to get a behind-the-scenes look at practice and team meetings and the video even showed the moment that Kenny Soares Jr. found out that he was voted “The Spartan” and the first No. 1 of the Fitzgerald era at Michigan State.
There’s a different feeling around fall camp this year compared to last season and it’s amazing what difference a year and a new coaching staff can make.
Michigan State football might be back?
It’s going to take stringing some winning seasons and Big Ten title contention together to really declare Michigan State football “back” but this video really gives the feel of the good old days.
Dantonio was a stern head coach who liked things done a certain way and he was both hard on his guys and knew when to shower them with praise. Fitzgerald is the same way. He’s more fiery than Dantonio was which is a nice change considering the last head coach of the program couldn’t have ripped a wet paper bag when he was “angry” during games.
Intensity is back. Culture is back. The Spartan mindset is back.
Who knew that it would take a Northwestern legend to bring back the culture at Michigan State?
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