The Pat Fitzgerald era in East Lansing is off to an incredible start.
First, he met with his team on Tuesday, had lunch with Tom Izzo stopping by to congratulate him, then he had his introductory press conference, he followed that up by calling the rest of his 2026 recruiting class, and then he attended the No. 7 Michigan State vs. Iowa Big Ten opener at the Breslin Center in front of a sold-out crowd.
Fitzgerald got to speak with Izzo earlier in the day, but he also shared some conversations with his good friend during that basketball game at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
It was the Big Ten opener, so Izzo was focused and the conversations were likely short.
However, Izzo did have to make a hilarious demand for the new head football coach during some timeouts when the Hall of Famer huddled up with his team. Fitzgerald was pumping up the crowd with his endless energy, and Izzo turned to him after a timeout and told him that he was screwing up his huddles and that his wife needed to “shut him up”.
Izzo told the hilarious story during his post-game presser on Tuesday night.
Tom Izzo on new MSU football coach Pat Fitzgerald disrupting his team’s huddles. @SSR_MSU pic.twitter.com/KtRzVCympl
— Jacob Maurer (@JacobMaurer55) December 3, 2025
Obviously Izzo was joking, and he loves the energy that Fitzgerald brings to the fanbase. He was fired up when he spoke to the fans in the first half and he earned a standing ovation, ending his talk with some loud “Go Green! Go White!” chants from the Breslin Center crowd.
Izzo can match this energy, so it’s exciting to see two passionate head coaches leading the two biggest athletic programs at the university.
What’s even more exciting about this Fitzgerald hire is the fact that he said he’s going to bring Mark Dantonio around more when he’s back in the state of Michigan. Having a legend and great friend like Dantonio around is only going to make his transition smoother, and you know those two and Izzo are going to have some incredible talks about coaching, life, and football.
The future is bright in East Lansing — as long as Fitz doesn’t keep screwing up Izzo’s huddles.