Pat Fitzgerald accepted the Michigan State head coaching job in December 2025. Within six months, both the president and the athletic director who hired him are gone. He was asked about it this week and kept it very simple.

WILX News 10’s Ben Shockley spoke with Fitzgerald on June 15 and asked him directly how he feels about everything that has changed in the past month.

"Excited for J [Batt] and thankful for him and Kevin to bring myself and my family here and our staff, and couldn't be more excited about the future...Recruiting is going great, our players are busting their rear ends, coming off having the highest team GPA in program's history...Everything that I was talked to about in the process of coming here is all aligned and ready to go," Fitzgerald said to WILX News 10.

Fitzgerald was hired to be the Spartans' new head coach, and he vowed to "restore tradition" to the program. He replaced Jonathan Smith, fired after a 4-8 season.

His hiring was announced by former Michigan State athletic director J Batt, who left for the same spot at the University of Kentucky. The next AD will be the fourth since 2021.

Fitzgerald also spoke about reaching out to Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo right after the news broke about Batt leaving for Kentucky.

"I talked to Tom right away last week," Fitzgerald told Shockley. "Like I told him, I'm in a foxhole here. I'm ready to go and can't wait to get the season started."

Michigan State's season opener is roughly 80 days away. Fitzgerald is not spending any of that time worried about who is sitting in the AD's office.

What Michigan State's 2026 Season Outlook Actually Looks Like

The Spartans open the 2026 season on September 5 against Florida Atlantic. Their Big Ten schedule includes road games at Michigan and Penn State.

According to Pete Fiutak of CFN, there's good and bad news for the season's schedule.

"There's a lot of home cooking through the first half of the season. Going to Wisconsin is bad, and traveling down the road to Notre Dame is worse, but outside of that, four of the first six games are in Spartan Stadium," Fiutak wrote in January.

That takes hold when you look at who is off the schedule. Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa, and Penn State all played Michigan State last season, and none of them is on this year's slate.

It's the kind of break that matters for a coach still building his roster. However, there's some bad news as well.

"A long trip to LA to face UCLA, a week off, a date at Michigan, Washington, and Oregon. So, basically, the Spartans have to be great early, and there can't be a miss against Nebraska at home or Rutgers on the road," Fiutak added.

What are your thoughts on Fitzgerald's mindset heading into the 2026 season? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore