The hire of Pat Fitzgerald has come with some praise as well as plenty of skepticism. Some national experts loved the hire by Michigan State, citing Fitzgerald’s success at a Big Ten program with far less resources and more academic restrictions. Others hated it, citing his final few years at Northwestern.
One thing’s for certain, however: no one knows what’s going to happen.
Fitzgerald has already been talking turnaround, speaking on just that at a recent team meeting. He said that no one in the room will be surprised when the Spartans turn things around in 2026.
Not everyone can be Indiana, though. Turnarounds don’t just happen overnight unless your name is Curt Cignetti. Fitzgerald knows that going from a bowl-less season to the College Football Playoff in one year is about as rare as it comes, but he’s confident that he can do that with “a sleeping giant” in East Lansing.
If he does turn things around, it’ll be because he’s hungrier than ever to make sure he never takes coaching college football for granted again. He has the resources at his disposal, and he has the backing of the donors and the entire athletic department. Fitz can turn this thing around.
Will it be overnight? I doubt that, and Vegas agrees.
Michigan State’s opening national title odds are not favorable
While no one should be surprised, DraftKings’ opening national title odds are not at all favorable for Michigan State. The Spartans open as +60000 — that’s a sixty thousand, not six thousand.
Vegas is giving Michigan State essentially zero chance to win the national title next season, and that’s not exactly surprising nor is it disrespectful. The Spartans haven’t made a bowl game since 2021 and they’ve shuffled through two coaches since then.
Michigan State is going to be starting a quarterback with just a handful of starts under his belt, a brand-new running back, essentially an entire new receiving corps, and a defense that hasn’t had much of a pulse for the past few seasons. The hope is there, but the hype is lacking nationally.
It’s time for Fitzgerald to prove the doubters wrong — a bowl berth would be a nice start.