Michigan State wasted no time identifying and reportedly hiring Jonathan Smith’s replacement. Just about an hour after announcing the firing of Smith, reports surfaced that the Spartans would be hiring former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
The move wasn’t surprising given that Fitzgerald was the rumored candidate for the past 24, or so, hours, but fans still had mixed reactions to the news.
The body was still warm, but J Batt made the bold decision to make a quick hire after identifying Fitzgerald as his top candidate. He didn’t want to risk losing Fitzgerald to another program with plenty of other schools looking for a new head coach, so he made quick work of the negotiation process and hired the Northwestern legend.
Although his departure from Northwestern came with some controversy, he is still looked at favorably by Wildcat fans — or at least he should be. He took the program to new heights and had the Wildcats contending for Big Ten titles. He won 110 games over his tenure.
Now, he’s headed to East Lansing to revive his career, and he feels like the perfect fit for a hard-nosed program like Michigan State.
How did social media react to the news? It was a mixed bag, but these are some of my favorite takes, starting with a couple from some former players.
Let’s just keep it real for a second. Northwestern never had any business being a B1G10 Championship contender. They don’t have the necessary recourses to be considered in that conversation. Pat Fitzgerald still made it happen. Imagine him with the National Brand that MSU…
— Matt Seybert (@mattseybert82) November 30, 2025
Pat Fitzgerald is a homerun hire….people might not realize it yet but they will
— Todd Anderson (@TandersonMSU) November 30, 2025
Pat Fitzgerald had significant interest amongst P4 programs as a DC
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) November 30, 2025
Do MSU fans seriously think Pat Fitzgerald would be the best fit for the HC job? I’m just asking a question..
— Darian Hicks (@dhicky695) November 30, 2025
Fitzgerald would be a terrific hire for MSU. Builds culture.Obviously knows conference and recruiting base. If he can go to 10 Bowl games at NW, he can exceed that in E.L.
— michael stone (@stoney16) November 30, 2025
Potentially the next Dantonio. I know some think he is “meh” but I disagree.
Fans should be excited about the future of Michigan State football with Pat Fitzgerald. I admired the effort and energy he put into the Northwestern program, and believe he is a great fit for Spartan football given his Big Ten roots and work ethic.
— Paul Konyndyk (@Pkonyndyk) November 30, 2025
There are Michigan State fans that are down on the Pat Fitzgerald hire?
— Joey Shaver (@JoeyShaver) November 30, 2025
Really? This fan base never ceases to disappoint me.
pat fitzgerald is a great hire and a realistic one.
— Fano (@Fano12345678910) November 30, 2025
I have mixed thoughts about Pat Fitzgerald as MSU’s next HC. He was a great coach at Northwestern. He certainly knows the rivalry with us and UofM. But will it work out? No clue.
— Aaron (@AaronJupp) November 30, 2025
As you can see, it’s mostly positive reviews, but there are some hesitant fans out there who think that Michigan State could’ve gotten a coach who didn’t get fired from his last job, but the details surrounding that move are still up for debate.
Fitzgerald wanted to get back into coaching, he saw an opportunity at a storied program like Michigan State, and he expressed enough interest to draw an offer from the Spartans.
This is going to end up being a really good hire, and I think a lot of the success is going to depend on who he hires as his offensive and defensive coordinators. I have a guy in mind for the latter.
One era of Michigan State football ended on Sunday and another one quickly began.