The Michigan Wolverines head coach, Kyle Whittingham, and quarterback Bryce Underwood should brace themselves because the Spartans are coming.

Head coach of the Michigan State Spartans, Pat Fitzgerald, is already looking forward to the matchup between his Spartans and Whittingham’s Wolverines. The in-state rivalry between the Spartans and Wolverines is always a clash, as both teams want to come away with the bragging rights.  

“Just so we’re all scoring at home, we start camp in 110 days, we will be back in Spartan Stadium to take on the in 141 days, and we go down the road to take on Michigan in 203 days,” said Pat Fitzgerald. “So those things are all top of mind with me, with our coaches, with our program.” 

It is safe to say that the head coach of the Spartans is taking a page from Mark Dantonio’s book of “beat Michigan.” The former legendary head coach of the Spartans, Mark Dantonio, enjoyed his time against the Wolverines, having an 8-5 record. 

However, Whittigham and his staff, along with Underwood, should take confidence in knowing that the Wolverines have dominated the last five meetings between the two schools. 

On October 26, 2025, the Wolverines went to the Spartans’ backyard and came away with the victory, beating them 31-20. This time, it will be Pat Fitzgerald and his Spartans who make their way to The Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, over 200 days from now. 

Kyle Whittingham Has Been a Part of a Fair Few Rivalries in His Time As Head Coach

After stepping down as the head coach of Utah, Whittingham was named head coach of the Wolverines. Kyle Whittingham replaced Urban Meyer at Utah. Meyer went on to coach Ohio State. 

On an appearance on the Rich Eisen show, Eisen told Whittingham that he is not allowed to like Urban Meyer anymore, given his affiliation with Ohio State. 

“I better cancel my date with him on the podcast than this week,” Whittingham jokingly responded.

Rich Eisen, the famous sports commentator and radio host, is an alumnus of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He also got Coach Whittingham to acknowledge what Michigan fans call Michigan State.

“Again, I know I’m stooping you down to my level, it’s called little brother, that’s Michigan State, right? You got that, you got to refer to them as little brother,” Eisen said on the show. 

Coach Whittingham nodded and acknowledged just by saying, “Right, right.”

The head coach of the Wolverines was at Utah for 20 years and has seen it all. However, this will be the first time Whittingham will face Pat Fitzgerald and his Spartans at The Big House.

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore