Every time a new football coach is hired, people like to act like experts and judge every single one of his assistant coach hires. New Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald is no exception.
When Fitzgerald was hired, everyone was quick to list their ideal hires for every position coach, and there were plenty of fans critical of a few moves that the new head coach made.
While Fitzgerald was praised for retaining guys like Courtney Hawkins and Brian Wozniak and also bringing Max Bullough home, he was knocked a bit for retaining defensive coordinator Joe Rossi who didn’t exactly build a juggernaut on that side of the ball. Heck, he barely fielded a competent unit, but that wasn’t entirely on him. At some point, Jonathan Smith just had to land better players.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and Rossi struggled with the resources that he was given. Fitzgerald decided to give him another shot, much to the chagrin of a portion of Spartan fans.
Players, however, loved the move. In fact, starting defensive tackle Ben Roberts said that he knew right away that he’d be coming back to Michigan State despite the coaching change because he wanted to play for Rossi.
Ben Roberts: "For me, there was no doubt. I went into break knowing I would return. Who wouldn't want to play for Coach Rossi? He brings the fire every day."
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) March 31, 2026
That type of ringing endorsement for an assistant coach definitely changes some opinions on Rossi. He may not have pieced together quality defenses in his two years with Smith, but he was a really good defensive coordinator at Minnesota before that which leads me to believe it was a personnel issue and not a coaching deficiency.
Roberts is going to be a key contributor on defense this season and Michigan State fans have Rossi to thank for his senior year return.
Ben Roberts is in charge of turning the defensive line around
While this is on Rossi and Winston DeLattiboudere II, too, it’ll be up to Roberts to lead his teammates and turn the defensive line around. The defensive line has been one of the Spartans’ weaknesses since Mark Dantonio retired, but Roberts has a chance to pioneer that resurgence in 2026.
With Alex VanSumeren and Jalen Thompson gone, it’ll be up to Roberts to become the leader of a rather unproven group. He needs to take a big step himself.
In 2025, Roberts had just 11 total tackles in seven games. He started six games and missed five due to injury. The defense is going to need him to live in the backfield a little more. Let’s see what kind of development Rossi can engineer.