For the third time since February of 2020, Michigan State football experienced a coaching change this offseason. Following two straight bowl-free seasons, Jonathan Smith was let go and it wasn't really a good feeling because he wasn't a bad coach and definitely not a bad guy, just an overall bad fit for Michigan State and the Big Ten.
Spartan fans have gotten used to the coaching changes and what they entail nowadays, and it usually means a mass exodus of players as well as a brand new coaching staff coming in.
Fortunately, there hasn't exactly been a huge exodus of players so far under Pat Fitzgerald, and he even kept a few coaches from the previous staff that won just nine games under Smith. Normally, that would be considered a bad move, but realistically, Fitzgerald retained the best of the best from Smith's staff in Joe Rossi, Courtney Hawkins, and Brian Wozniak.
Retaining coaches isn't always easy, however. The new head coach has to sell his vision and the two have to mesh well. On top of that, the assistant has to want to stick around instead of starting fresh at a new program, especially since that coach will get his fair share of offers.
For Rossi, he's glad to be back, but he said that he had to turn down "other spots in conference" who offered him after Smith was fired.
Joe Rossi: "I'm excited to be back. I talked with Coach Fitz on three separate occasions. We will win here, we will have great defenses here. I was adamant I wanted to be here. I had other spots in conference offering, too. I wanted to be here."
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) April 7, 2026
I wouldn't be totally shocked if he was approached by PJ Fleck to return to Minnesota, but it's interesting to hear that there were multiple offers. Programs like Illinois and Rutgers were also looking for defensive coordinators, so maybe they also reached out.
Instead, Rossi decided to stick around and finish what he started.
Michigan State fans should feel grateful for Joe Rossi
Contrary to popular belief, Rossi isn't just some scrub who lucked his way into a defensive coordinator job under Smith, but rather, he was one of the best in the Big Ten under Fleck at Minnesota before getting poached by the Spartans.
Rossi's two years at Michigan State haven't gone as planned, but I'd argue that's more of a personnel and roster-building problem than it was a coaching issue. Rossi could only do so much with the talent that Smith added defensively via the 2024 and 2025 classes and the transfer portal.
It would have been easy for Rossi, a veteran with a resume of success, to call in quits and hit the refresh button somewhere else, but he wanted to help fix Michigan State.
Rossi could have been the only defensive coordinator for another Big Ten program but he decided to join forces with Max Bullough in an effort to get Michigan State back to where it feels like it belongs in college football's heirarchy (near the top).