There’s something about bringing a beloved former player home that riles up a fanbase and gets everyone to buy in. We saw a little of that when former Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker hired Courtney Hawkins and then Jonathan Smith retained him, but we’re seeing it tenfold with Pat Fitzgerald’s decision to bring Max Bullough in from Notre Dame.
With the news of Bullough leaving Notre Dame for Michigan State, fans went absolutely bonkers on Wednesday night, and former players also approved of the move.
Fitzgerald listened to the fanbase and brought one of the most beloved Spartans from the Mark Dantonio era home to co-coordinate the defense along with Joe Rossi. He’s also going to coach the linebackers, and the idea of Jordan Hall learning from Bullough has everyone talking All-American team.
Bullough had a very successful tenure with Notre Dame and made a lot of fans in a short period of time, but now he’s moving on to his alma mater, much to the chagrin of the Irish.
Notre Dame reportedly tried everything to keep Max Bullough
Talk about an endorsement: Notre Dame reportedly did “everything they can” to try and keep Bullough in South Bend, but it just wasn’t enough.
Steam picking up that LB Coach Max Bullough may be leaving for his Alma Mater Michigan State for a possible Co-DC position. Notre Dame is doing everything they can to try and keep him but it is his alma mater after all.
— Bruce Straughan (@bruce_straughan) December 11, 2025
Saying “no thanks” to his alma mater which is now coached by a former Big Ten foe who he played against was just not in the cards for Bullough. There was no way he was going to turn down coming home to coach the linebackers and the defense for the first program he loved and led to Big Ten supremacy during his time in East Lansing.
The former Big Ten champion will be back to lead a relatively inexperienced group that will hopefully be led by Hall, but everyone’s excited just to see that toughness and energy back.
In just a couple of weeks, Michigan State went from a vanilla head coach who didn’t show a ton of emotion to one that fires up the Breslin Center crowd during basketball games and he retained arguably the only coach on Jonathan Smith’s staff that showed emotion (Joe Rossi) and he’s bringing in a Spartan legend who’s also known for being fiery.
What a difference an offseason can make.