Folks, Pat Fitzgerald is making some big boy moves. The new Michigan State head coach has already hired his co-defensive coordinators and safeties coach as well as his strength and conditioning coach, but he made one of the most impressive hires since taking the job on Thursday.
After the program announced the hires that he’s already made as official, it sounds like Fitzgerald is pursuing one of the best special teams coaches in the nation.
According to a report from Pete Thamel, Michigan State is “expected” to hire Iowa’s LeVar Woods who has been known as one of the nation’s best special teams coaches.
Sources: Michigan State is expected to hire LeVar Woods as Assistant Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator. He’s a former Iowa player and longtime assistant at Iowa who developed a reputation as one of the country’s top special teams coaches.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 18, 2025
Talk about a home run.
There aren’t many special teams hires that would draw attention like this one, and Woods has constantly produced All-American special teams players. Heck, Michigan State witnessed firsthand this season just how good his special teams are. The Spartans were outplayed on special teams in that late-November showdown in Iowa City.
Woods has worked with special teams at Iowa since 2012 and he has consistently had some of the best units in the nation. This would be a massive hire for Fitzgerald, especially since Woods is a former Iowa player.
Michigan State’s new head coach is using his money wisely
J Batt and the athletic department gave Fitzgerald a nice bump for his assistant pool than the one that Jonathan Smith had, and he’s using that money wisely.
Fitzgerald’s assistant pool reportedly got a $2 million-ish raise over Smith’s, and the new head coach is already making big moves with that extra money. He has poached Max Bullough from Notre Dame despite the Irish doing everything in their power to keep him and now he’s prying one of Iowa’s top assistants and a former Hawkeye player away from his alma mater.
Not many coaches have that type of pull, but Fitzgerald is selling something big in East Lansing.
Fitzgerald’s staff is coming together nicely with Bullough and Joe Rossi leading the defense as co-coordinators, James Adams as the safeties coach, Joel Welsh as the strength and conditioning coach, and reportedly Woods as his special teams coordinator and assistant head coach.
Now it’s time to work on the offensive staff.