Pat Fitzgerald doesn't hold back on what Michigan State-Michigan rivalry means to him

Michigan State entered the coaching carousel late, firing head coach Jonathan Smith on Sunday after the conclusion of the regular season. The Spartans were not bowl-eligible for the fourth season in a row. Michigan State's last bowl game was back in 2021, when they faced Pitt in the Peach Bowl they won 31-21.

Now with Smith gone, the Spartans have hired Pat Fitzgerald, who coached at Northwestern for years, as his replacement. This hiring comes as a bit of a surprise, especially with the allegations Fitzgerald faced with hazing on the team, and he was fired in 2023.

Fitzgerald hasn't been coaching since 2023, but earlier this year, he settled his wrongful termination lawsuit against Northwestern. Now, the former Wildcats head coach will get a fresh start at Michigan State, and his introductory press conference showed that he is ready for the challenge.

Pat Fitzgerald knows how to get the fanbase behind him with press conference comments

The state of the Michigan State football program is not great. Jonathan Smith ended up not being the right answer for the Spartans, but the administration feels it has righted its wrong with the hiring of Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald is certainly making himself look good in front of the fans as one of the biggest things he talked about was being competitive in every game, but there is one game that might get some extra attention.

"Every game is going to be a focus of victory and winning, but there’s one game that just means a little bit more," Fitzgerald said. "I’ll just leave that one alone."

The Michigan-Michigan State game will be hopefully start to be the biggest matchup for this team going forward as the Spartans have struggled to compete with the Wolverines for quite some time now. Fans always love a rivalry game and this is Fitzgerald's chance to get some of the fanbase behind him.