What a great day to be a Spartan. First, Michigan State locks up four-star offensive lineman Collin Campbell in the 2026 class. Then, Michigan State athletics gets a massive $401 million donation from a long-time donor. And lastly, Tom Izzo announces that he’s not going anywhere any time soon.
It’s been a heck of a week for Michigan State alumni and fans as the Spartans have hired their new head football coach, the current hoops coach has the team ranked No. 7 in the country ahead of a home showdown with the No. 4 team, and the athletic department has no money problem in sight.
Back to the Izzo news, though. That seems to be getting lost in the fray.
The Hall of Fame head coach has Michigan State sitting at 8-0, he has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2026, and he may have the best point guard in the Big Ten leading the way. Also, he just gave Michigan State fans even more good news on Friday afternoon.
Justin Thind of 247Sports reported that Izzo said he has no plans of retiring with a somewhat surprising statement that should make Michigan State fans very happy.
Tom Izzo: “I’m going to be around a while.”
— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) December 5, 2025
Michigan State enters a new era of college athletics under Izzo
Izzo has often stated that he’s not a fan of his profession even though he loves his job. That profession is getting even more difficult with the introduction of NIL and the transfer portal being as prominent as it is.
Michigan State is ushering in a new era of college athletics in East Lansing, and Izzo is sticking around to see it through. He’s already helped welcome the new head football coach, Pat Fitzgerald, and he was around for the massive announcement of a $401 million donation from Acrisure CEO Greg Williams on Friday morning. He’s well aware that you need money to win in college athletics.
Now that he has the backing of a major donation and he’ll always have the donors on his side, Izzo has to feel good about the state of his program, and I would be shocked to see him retire before he wins a second national title — I know he has it in him.
Plus, without basketball, I can’t imagine Izzo would have a ton of fun being retired. He’d be around the program in some way or another even if he did retire soon. Luckily, that’s not happening.