Michigan State plans to hire Pat Fitzgerald as next football coach

It appears Pat Fitzgerald will get his chance to return to coaching along the banks of the Red Cedar River.

Michigan State football intends to hire the former Northwestern coach after firing Jonathan Smith after two seasons, two people with knowledge of the situation who couldn't speak publicly confirmed to the Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal. A contract had not yet been signed as of midday Sunday, Nov. 30.

Fitzgerald, who turns 51 on Tuesday, went 110-101 over 17 seasons with his alma mater from 2006-22, the entirety of his head coaching career and the Wildcats' longest-tenured coach in school history. The Midlothian, Illinois, native was an All-Big linebacker for Northwestern from 1993-96 and was a consensus All-American, won the Big Ten defensive player of the year and was the national winner of both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award in both the 1995 and 1996. He received the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1997.

As a coach, Fitzgerald won the Big Ten West title in 2018 and was named Big Ten coach of the year, and he won a second West division title in 2020 and earned the national Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

The hire doesn’t come without concerns.

Northwestern fired Fitzgerald in July 2023 due to a hazing scandal the school said “included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.” Fitzgerald, who reportedly was owed $68 million from the private school on his contract that ran through 2031, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in October 2023 for $130 million.

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Northwestern and Fitzgerald settled out of court on Aug. 21 this year for an undisclosed amount. Fitzgerald denied knowledge of the hazing, and the school issued a statement to USA TODAY saying evidence uncovered did not establish any player reported hazing to Fitzgerald or he condoned any actions and he was “incredibly upset and saddened” when he learned of the alleged details.

“Northwestern appreciates Coach Fitzgerald’s 26 years as a Northwestern player and coach. Northwestern is proud of Coach Fitzgerald's team's success on the field as well as its success in the classroom,” the statement read. “Northwestern wishes Coach Fitzgerald the best in resuming his football career.”

The Spartans were dealing with program-monitoring issues as well during that time. MSU was hit with NCAA sanctions earlier this fall that occurred in 2022-23 under Mel Tucker, who received a three-year show-cause penalty for failing to monitor the program and two staff members who also received show-cause penalties. The NCAA said Tucker was not involved with providing improper benefits of around $11,000 to three players and six recruits, however, in its negotiated settlement with MSU.

Fitzgerald, who has been out of college coaching for three seasons, was 5-9 against the Spartans during his tenure at Northwestern. The Wildcats were 4-20 in his final two seasons, which included MSU’s season-opening win under Tucker in 2021 in Evanston, Illinois.

Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State plans to hire Pat Fitzgerald as next football coach