J Batt didn’t waste a second getting his guy after firing Jonathan Smith on Sunday afternoon. Just an hour after Smith was let get, news of Pat Fitzgerald to Michigan State went public.
Fitzgerald would become Michigan State’s fourth head coach in six years as the Mark Dantonio retirement seemed to have cursed the program. After Dantonio retired in 2019, Michigan State hired Mel Tucker who won 11 games in 2021 but couldn’t seem to keep the same motivation after his massive payday. Then Smith was hired shortly after Tucker’s departure. He got two seasons to prove himself, but unfortunately went 9-15 and Batt decided to move on.