Michigan State wasted no time identifying and reportedly hiring Jonathan Smith’s replacement. Just about an hour after announcing the firing of Smith, reports surfaced that the Spartans would be hiring former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
The move wasn’t surprising given that Fitzgerald was the rumored candidate for the past 24, or so, hours, but fans still had mixed reactions to the news.
The body was still warm, but J Batt made the bold decision to make a quick hire after identifying Fitzgerald as his top candidate. He didn’t want to risk losing Fitzgerald to another program with plenty of other schools looking for a new head coach, so he made quick work of the negotiation process and hired the Northwestern legend.