Connecting the new era of Michigan State football with the last truly successful era should be a priority for Pat Fitzgerald. And so far, he’s done a pretty solid job.
Fitzgerald has already connected with Mark Dantonio who was responsible for the last successful era of Michigan State football and he had some popular staffers under his control. Coaches like Ron Burton, Pat Narduzzi, and Mike Tressel made the program fun to watch for years but there was another staffer who worked behind the scenes but was very popular.
Longtime strength and conditioning coach Ken Mannie was a fixture in Dantonio’s program and he was actually around long before the legendary head coach.
Before he retired in 2020, Mannie was the longest-tenured strength and conditioning coach in the Big Ten. Fans loved him, he loved the program, and Coach D trusted him enough to be a prominent fixture of Spartan football.
It’s good to bridge that gap between older successful eras and the current one for culture purposes and Fitzgerald is doing just that.
In fact, he brought Mannie to the Michigan State staff retreat this week.
Thank you, Coach Mannie, for joining us at our staff retreat! You embody what it means to be a Spartan and we’re proud to carry on the championship standard you helped set at Michigan State. pic.twitter.com/WV3rm1cRXx
— Pat Fitzgerald (@coachfitz51) June 4, 2026
Fitzgerald understands the importance of a guy like Mannie who lived and breathed Spartan football for over two decades and the new staff will be able to pick his brain a little bit. I love the fact that Fitzgerald wants former coaches and players back around the program.
Although people have strong opinions about him, Mel Tucker did a great thing by creating the annual Spartan Dawg Con which brought former players back for a huge recruiting weekend.
I hope something similar to that continues under Fitzgerald.
Ken Mannie has seen it all
Mannie was hired as Michigan State’s head strength and conditioning coach in the mid-1990s and he’s seen a little of everything.
He saw the rise of Nick Saban, the fall of the program under John L. Smith, the rebirth under Dantonio, and then the sputtering end to that era in 2018 and 2019. Mannie retired before the 2020 season under Tucker but got a chance to meet the then-new head coach.
The former Dantonio staffer has seen plenty of success and failure and he carries with him a wealth of knowledge. It’s good that he’s around the new staff so they can soak up that knowledge.
The more time with Mannie and Dantonio around the program, the better.
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