Conversation Highlights:
(0:00) – Opening remarks from Athletic Director J Batt
(3:59) – Remarks from President Kevin Guskiewicz
(8:58) – Remarks from Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Questions from the media:
(18:05) – How hungry are you to succeed?
(19:45) – How are you prepared to handle the changing and evolving landscape of college football?
(21:04) – When is the first time you thought about coaching MSU?
(22:10) – For J Batt – how early on did you identify Pat as the guy? How quickly will we see his impact on the field?
(23:17) – What did you learn from your Northwestern experience and how will that make you a better coach at MSU?
(24:30) – What are the resources available to you, and what resources do you need to succeed?
(25:25) – What’s your message to MSU students?
(26:58) – For Kevin and J – When and how did you decide to change coaches?
(29:08) – How important are these next five days for you?
(31:35) – What traits will you look for in your coaching staff?
(33:26) – When did it click for you that MSU was the place for you?
(35:23) – Was it an advantage in a way to be away from the game for awhile?
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Conversation Transcript:
J Batt (00:00):
Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to everyone today, our head coaches that are with us, our donors, our athletic department staff, media members, so glad to see you and many of our special guests in particular. Welcome to the Fitzgerald family. We're so glad you're here. Welcome. It is indeed a great day to be a Spartan. We are excited you're here and ready for a tremendous start to the next chapter of Michigan State Football. Before I get into today's news, I'd like to thank Jonathan Smith for the first class manner in which he represented Michigan State and the professional classy manner. He's handled this transition. We certainly wish him well and his family well and their future endeavors, but as I said, today marks the start of a new era of Michigan State football. Spartan football has a proud history of national championships, big 10 Championships, rose Bowl, CFP appearances and much of that success is recent.
(01:08):
More importantly, Spartan football is defined by its people, the student athletes and coaches that have built this program and the loyal passionate fan base that fill Spartan Stadium each and every week is with them in mind that I set about making sure we had the right coach to lead our program. Transitions are always difficult and throughout the process I continually focused on what I believe was in the best long-term interest of our programs. I wanted a coach who was a proven winner, a coach of integrity and intensity, someone with a formula for success on the field and a plan of attack in a continually evolving landscape, someone who could effectively and efficiently use the resources they were provided. Fit was also important as we set out on this search. Someone who understands the Big 10 and has relationships through the Midwest, a coach who embodies the values on which our program was built.
(02:07):
Perhaps most importantly, someone who shares our standard of excellence and aggressively pursues that excellence each and every day. I was looking for someone who would partner as we continue to elevate not just Michigan State football, but our entire athletic department, someone who would share our fundraising vision. Some of you may have seen we launched a $1 billion capital initiative today, so a few renderings of the east side of Spartan Stadium. Pretty excited about that and it certainly gave me chills to see that rendering for the first time and hopefully he did the same for you as we went through this list of criteria. Pat Fitzgerald met every criteria. He's a passionate winner. He understands the Big 10 in college football here in the Midwest. We have a shared vision for building championships and returning this program to its elite level of success. At the same time, we have an obligation as a department to the football program.
(03:02):
We are fully committed to providing the resources and infrastructure required to compete at the highest lever. Nearly six months ago, almost to the day, I stood in this exact same spot and shared that my vision for reestablishing Michigan State Athletics as a top 10 athletic department. I also spoke about the importance of Michigan State football and what is required for us to reach that goal. To reach that level of success requires alignment at every level. I'd like to publicly thank President Gussy and our board of trustees for their support of our department through this transition and throughout the year also being a great partner as we work towards our common goals. They have certainly positioned us well for success in years to come and is in that spirit of alignment that I'd like to welcome the stage our president, Dr. Kevin Skow.
Kevin Guskiewicz (04:00):
Thanks Jay and it's an honor to be here Today I want to take this opportunity to welcome the Fitzgerald family to our family here in East Lansing to Michigan State University State, Jack, Brendan, and I know that Ryan, I think is off at football practice across the lake. You're going to love the family that you are joining today. I want to also take this opportunity to welcome two of our board of trustees members, Renee Kki Jefferson and Dennis Deno who are with us today. I see Dennis and Trustee Kki Jefferson is here somewhere I think, but thank you for your support in supporting this transition. I also want to take the opportunity as Jay Bat has already done, and that is to thank Jonathan Smith for his contributions to Michigan State University and his family for being part of this community and he is indeed a class act and I know we will continue to try to support him and his family even on a wintry day like today.
(05:01):
I'm sure that Coach Fitz, as he has said, he likes to be called Coach Fitz. I'm going to work on that and his family will discover the warmth of our Michigan State community much in the same way that Amy and our family did when we visited this campus nearly two years to the day when it was much like this with a little snow on the ground, but it's warmth that's as I like to say, kindled by our passionate campus and a Spartan community and all those many who are in the room today who are dedicated to making a difference on the field and beyond, and that's the way we develop talent here at Michigan State University. I'm excited for what Coach Fitzgerald's addition to our athletics program will do not only for Spartan football but for our entire campus. Pat Fitzgerald is a proven leader and the full mission of intercollegiate athletics.
(05:59):
He will be a coach for all of our athletics teams. He will work alongside our other coaches, head coaches, assistant coaches, and that's what I have gotten to know about him and that he is a lot like another head coach that's over getting ready for a big game tonight, and I think you're going to see that in Coach Fitzgerald, but I'm talking about academic achievement and the holistic development of student athletes in the addition to competitive excellence that we know coach is going to bring to the program. In 2021, he became just the second big 10 coach to earn the Stallings Award, which is given annually to a division one head coach for their contributions and their community and achievements on the field. Pat's track record of building disciplined, resilient teams and his commitment to coaching with integrity make him an exceptional fit for us at Michigan State University.
(06:55):
I'm certain that under his leadership, Spartan Football will thrive on and off the field having seen the impact of a competitive football program from the vantage point, not only as a university leader but also as someone who spent a lot of time walking the sidelines with a background in sports medicine, I understand the importance of building a winning culture that extends beyond the boundaries of a single sport and even an athletics program and a culture that is healthy and supportive of our student athletes. For those who believe that college athletics is the front porch to a university, I think you'd agree that it needs a firm foundation with success and respect, and I'm convinced that Coach Fitzgerald has the experience and the drive to prove, to provide those qualities. In our conversations with Coach Fitzgerald, he has made it very clear he's committed to running a program grounded in the highest standards of integrity and accountability, and I know that's exactly what we're going to get.
(08:02):
Had the opportunity to talk to many that have worked alongside Coach Fitz, have worked in the same building and many who have had a chance to play for him. And I can't say that I've heard more compliments toward an individual, a coach that's going to lead with integrity as we have as we've gone through this search. So it is my pleasure today on his birthday nonetheless, to introduce Michigan State's new head football coach, pat Fitzgerald, NJ Batt. Please join us up here. I think we have a presentation for coach before he takes the podium. So again, as Jay's already said, a great day to be a Spartan go green. It's up there.
Pat Fitzgerald (08:58):
Good afternoon, good afternoon, good afternoon. All right, thank you very much. I appreciate it. I kind of felt the same way when I addressed the team this morning. It was great to see those guys, but what an exciting day it is to be here. And thank you for everyone for attending. I'm humbled to be named the head football coach here at Michigan State University. First and foremost, I want to start with some thank yous President, Dr. Gus, thank you for the kind words. Thank you for letting everybody in Michigan now know that it's my birthday, it's going to be a long day and a lot more text messages that I got to our great director of athletics, Jay bat when we first visited and I started researching you, it was just a no brainer that I wanted to be aligned specifically with you and then you introduced me to Doc and I was like, this is exactly how successful programs are run alignment from the president, the athletic director, and now my great privilege to be the head football coach. John Palumbo and Jen Smith were instrumental in this too, and I thank you very much for that. My good friend Tom Izzo, who I've gone through my journey as a head coach, has been a great friend. His communicated frequently, got a chance to see him today at lunch. I couldn't believe he stopped by on game day, but he was fired up ready to go, so I hope I can help him out a little bit. I won't say anything to the officials I heard we're courtside. I'm very tame. I don't have a lot of passion.
(10:26):
And then to truly someone that's special to Stacy and I, and that's Mark and Becky Dantonio that we've known for a long, long time. Coach and I became head coaches in the Big 10 at the same time a number of years ago. I've spoken to coach a couple of times here over the last few days and look forward to seeing when he comes back to Michigan. I think he's going to enjoy some sunshine for a little while and some warm weather and then we'll get him over to practice and in the meetings, the great group from Excel that's on my team, Brian and Bynum and Quentin, you guys are the best. We've been through a lot and thank you guys so very much for all the support throughout these years and especially here. The last few I knew this was going to happen, thank you to my family, to my beautiful wife, Stacy, 25 years of marriage, 35 years together.
(11:20):
She is by far the biggest rock star in college head coaching wives in America. What we've been through as a family the last three years, we would've not been able to get through without you babe. And I absolutely love you from the bottom of my heart. I can't wait for the entire Spartan nation to get to know you and become friends with you like we had at Northwestern, and I just love you dearly and so thank you for you being you. I love you to my two boys that are here, Jack, who's a junior at Nu and Brendan who's a junior at Loyola Academy. I love you guys. You guys are warriors. We've been through a lot and you've been there every step of the way. And Ryan, if you're watching, I think you should be in class, so get to class. But it's an incredible honor for me to be here today.
(12:06):
This program is storied with a drap, a deep tradition of a passionate fan base, a commitment to excellence that spans way beyond the football field and into the development of the young men. Looking back over my time for more than two decades, my coaching philosophy has been centered around being the best player development program in the nation. We develop our young men as people, as students, and as world-class athletes. This will happen through a values-based approach. And the two cornerstones of those are choices that we make every day and I expressed it to the team this morning, the choice of our attitude and the choice of our investment. And we will work relentlessly to make those two the cornerstones of what we stand for every single day, smiles on our face, swagger, do our walk, a confidence, an openness, a happiness to be able to be privileged, to be a part of the Spartan community and a relentless investment and that it will be consistent hard work day in and day out in the grind to what it takes to be Big 10 champions.
(13:15):
These beliefs have guided me every step of the way and they remain the heart of what this program will be here at Michigan State. It also aligns obviously with our values here as a university and the existence already of those special values. I'm incredibly proud of what we accomplished at Northwestern on the field, in the classroom, in the community, and I'm grateful for the players, the staff, their families and all that were a part of the journey. And like anyone who has coached and competed long enough, I've had moments to reflect now and learn and grow. The experiences made me a better leader, a better man, a better husband, a better father, and a better coach. And it has reinforced my commitment to creating an environment that's going to be built on trust, discipline, communication, and accountability. When this opportunity arose, what excited me most about the vision for Michigan State is exactly what Jay just said, a top 10 athletics department that can be driven by success in football, not just next season, but for every season moving forward.
(14:22):
Spartan Stadium has always been an incredibly challenging place to play. I know firsthand I don't want to talk about a lot of those games. We'll leave those alone, but what jumps out so much is the pride and the people and the commitment and the resources to compete at the highest level. And I'm here because I believe deeply in what we can build together. I'm looking forward to building a great staff. I'm looking forward to putting together an unbelievable football product as we move forward here. It's going to be important that I find men that are going to develop our student athletes on and off the field and help them become great fathers, incredible husbands, and great citizens in their communities to our players. I can't wait to get to work. I promise you and I said this to you guys earlier, you'll get a coaching staff that is fully invested in your development academically, personally, and athletically.
(15:13):
We're going to play smart, tough, and disciplined football and we'll hold ourselves to the highest standards in everything that we do, and we will be represent this great university with the highest integrity, competitive fire and passion. So as we look kind of to the next few days, I want to say thank you first of all to the staff here at Michigan State. They've done a great job putting things together to put a great class together tomorrow. I can't really talk specifically about those guys, but I appreciate the recruiting staff and I'll start to work on getting our coaching staff together and move forward from there. And I also want to congratulate the great high schools here in the state of Michigan that won state championships here this last weekend. We are going to start and end our recruiting here and you will be seeing hearing from me and our staff frequently and I look forward to getting into all of those great high schools.
(16:07):
And before I wrap things up with my final thoughts, I want to say thank you to my great friend Jonathan Smith. We had a great conversation yesterday. He is a terrific man, a terrific coach, and a great friend and as I told the team this morning, I know how he feels and I just want them to know, and I told the same thing for the coaching staff and the support staff. I know how they feel and that I'm here to help them through this transition as we move forward and I expect that we'll move forward together. Michigan State has historically competed for Big 10 championships and my family and I are grateful for the opportunity to make sure we get back to that place. We're going to build this for long-term success and we need everyone to buy in, players and coaches, faculty, alumni, former players.
(16:54):
I look forward to meeting all of you and getting to know you and getting you back involved and engage in the program. And obviously of course, the state of Michigan toughness was born here in Michigan. State football, every game is going to be a focus of victory and winning, but there's one game that just means a little bit more, doesn't it? I'll just leave that one alone. To the Spartan fans, the alumni, your passion is unmatched. I'm excited to earn your trust to energize our program and to build a team that you'll be proud of to support. Every Saturday. I'm humbled for the opportunity. I'm fired up for the challenge and I'm ready to get to work. It's just a great day to be a Spartan go greet.
Matt Larson (17:45):
At this point. We'll now take questions from the media. President Gus and athletic director bat will join Coach Fitzgerald up on stage. We have Mikes on both sides. Raise your hand, we'll get around to you and ask that you please state your name and outlet to help coach Fitzgerald begin to get to know some of you guys.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Fred didn't plan on being first. Fred, WILX here in Lansing. Welcome and happy birthday. We've met at Big 10 meetings but was made way more memorable for me than it was for you, but I'm wondering if you had a game you'd want your team to be really hungry. I guess the same can be said in this situation with what you've been through the last three years and not coaching, what's your hunger level not only to coach but to succeed?
Pat Fitzgerald (18:33):
Well, Fred, good to see you again and I just want to make one small correction. I have been coaching, I've been the scout offensive coach at a high school, so you want to talk about humble pie? Apologies holding cards. I don't know where the gass are on the back. I can't talk about what we were able to get accomplished because that group of guys were unbelievable. I love you guys. They're probably watching right now. They're all over Big 10 country going to school. But what it did give me an opportunity to was to reflect and go around and see other schools, see how they're doing things, get to NFL organizations and just stand back and watch as this kind of new college landscape unfolds. And what it's given me is some great clarity. This will always be about the players and how we can focus and develop them is what it's all about. As far as my motivation, you don't have to ask me about that. I've been dreaming about this day for a long time and I don't want to do this. I don't want to cry. I'm just so grateful and I'm so thankful our family is, and there'll be no more motivated coach to get this program where it needs to be than I will be compared to anywhere else in the country. I promise you that.
(19:43):
Jack
Speaker 6 (19:46):
Fitz, Jack Doles from Wood tv, grand Rapids, congrats. The landscape has undergone an extraordinary change. And I know you touched on it, but you're a guy who at Northwestern, it was the same coaching staff, guys didn't transfer. How are you prepared to deal with the portal and all the change that this sport has undergone?
Pat Fitzgerald (20:11):
Yeah, Jack, maybe you saw the podcast I did, and that's where I've been doing most of, I guess all of my talking prior to today. Just the research and watching how you have to evolve, be flexible. We've talked about our plan and the alignment that we have to be successful, but you have to be ready and nimble to change just like that. And that's definitely something that I believe that I've shown over time. But more importantly now as I've stepped out of the day-to-day and watched others fail, it's kind of holding onto things and more importantly, you have to be ready to adapt and evolve. I don't see any dinosaurs walking outside here, so I'm going to make sure that we're as fully nimble and flexible as we can be as the landscape continues to do one thing. And I promise you it's going to Jack, it's going to change what it is today is not going to be what it is in two or three years. So we've got to do a great job being nimble enough and the resources that we expect to have provided to us, we expect to be able to compete at the highest level. Jack,
Speaker 7 (21:06):
Jack Ebling, the drive with Jack and Press Pass. Fitz, you've had as much success against Michigan State. You and Urban Meyer I think have the most wins against Mark as you watched his teams in maybe a decade ago and maybe while you were in your break, when's the first time you thought it'd be a pretty good place to be and envisioned yourself here in Green?
Pat Fitzgerald (21:28):
Well, there was a phone call that got me excited, to say the least, but when I looked at just college football, I'm a Midwest guy. I'm a big 10 player. I've grown up in Big 10 football. Michigan State would obviously be an incredibly desirable football program for any head football coach in the country. But as I look at the landscape, I thought it would be great, but never would. I could have dreamed or imagined that this opportunity would happen for me. And we stand upon the great shoulders of the amazing coaches that have been here before me and that legacy of consistent success, championship level success is unmatched and unparalleled and I look forward to getting our program. Back to that.
Speaker 8 (22:09):
Hello, Joe Bobowski, Detroit News for Jay Bat. If I can ask, how early on did you identify Pat as the guy that you wanted and went after and beyond the obvious impact he has right now? How quickly do you think the impact could be felt on the field?
J Batt (22:28):
Yeah, so I think a couple things. Certainly I'm not going to be specific about the search or the search process out of respect for everybody involved. I would tell you that it's my job as the athletic director to be prepared to always be cognizant of the market, cognizant of opportunities in the market and as the season progressed and it became increasingly something we needed to pay attention to, certainly did that. But again, won't speak specifically about the timing of that. I think on the field, I think the impact will be immediate. I think you can feel coach's energy, his attention to detail will be supreme and I know that our team will reflect all those parts and pieces. A little bit of toughness and grit might go with it as well.
Speaker 9 (23:18):
Larry Lage Associated Press Pat over here. What did you learn from the Northwestern experience? I know you were exonerated and yet moving forward here at Michigan State, how will that make you a better coach for this program?
Pat Fitzgerald (23:31):
Yeah, Larry, I think exactly kind of how you described. You learn a lot. You learn a lot through every experience that you have as a leader. I absolutely love and adore the young men that I had the privilege to coach in those 17 great years. And as we move forward through the process that we had to move through to come out fully exonerated and to see the statement that the university made, the settlement that we had came to an agreement with, I just feel 100% vindicated. But you always learn in u evolve and through the process, as I always said back when I was at Northwestern, and it'll be team meetings here about zero tolerance for a lot of different behaviors. There's definitely aspects and areas that we all have to work on and that's all of our responsibilities. What is mine? It's the ultimate responsibility and that's definitely what I've learned definitely that we'll work towards and we'll communicate it and we'll go right down the middle of it of any aspect that we have that we need to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 10 (24:30):
Connor, Connor, you're good. Detroit news question for Pat, sorry, sorry to make you walk away, but in terms of the resources at Michigan State that maybe drew you here in the opportunity, what are those resources and what are the resources that as a football coach you need to sort of add to this program?
Pat Fitzgerald (24:45):
I've been here for three hours, so I can't talk about the add. I need to get in better shape, but that's a whole nother deal. We'll work on that. That's a personal issue. But from a resource standpoint, we talked and discussed at length, commitment to the resources being at a championship level specifically. As we move forward, I think we'll be able to see those, but I felt complete trust and confidence that those resources were going to be provided and my focus was on the players and then obviously on the program, the necessary things for those two areas. And that's the commitment that we made to each other. And I look forward to getting to work once we frankly get done with this. I got a lot of work to do, so it's an exciting time.
Speaker 11 (25:26):
This one's for coach right here in the middle. My name's Casper Ha Lamb, I'm with the state news mission state student journalism thing. A majority of the Michigan State students that are currently enrolled at Michigan State have yet to see a winning football program and have yet to see a victory against Michigan. What's your message to these students and how can you improve their experience from seasons past?
Pat Fitzgerald (25:48):
Yeah, number one, we need to win. Alright, that's the number one thing. And how do we do that? It's going to take everybody, as I alluded to, I remember my first memory as a head coach coming into Spartan Stadium. We made some poor decision to warm up in front of the student section. I don't know why we decided to do that. That was a first and last time that we were going to ever do that. And I see some of the students, I think probably in the back row smirking right now. That's the environment we need, the home field, hostile, passionate environment. We have to provide a team on the field that has the student say, you know what? We're having a fun time on Saturday. Let's go have a great party in Spartan Stadium because that 12th person is going to be the student body and obviously all the other fans, but especially the student body, you're the core of the fan base, you're the heartbeat and we're going to need you and I've got to get a lot of things done, but I will be out on campus if you invite me once.
(26:46):
I can say yes, I will get out, I'll be engaged, I'll be involved. And I want to build genuine relationships with as many of our student body as we can. I really enjoy that aspect of it and look forward to doing that down the road. Chris,
Speaker 12 (26:59):
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press. This is for both Kevin and Jay. Obviously the decision to move on from Jonathan, just hearing you guys was a difficult one. I'm wondering if you can kind of maybe express a little bit more on when and how that decision came about and then in moving forward, having had the NCAA infractions come down, how much emphasis was there in this process about putting in fail safes to prevent another situation like that?
J Batt (27:30):
Yeah, so I'll just say that decisions to make a coaching change are certainly done in full alignment with the president and the board of trustees. I would say that we had the opportunity to visit with the board of trustees and in full alignment move forward with that change. As far as moving forward around the NCAA sanctions, I'll just say that we were fully transparent with Coach around those as they exist. Certainly our compliance program is as robust as could be, and we're fully committed to maintaining that culture of compliance going forward. I'll turn it to you,
Kevin Guskiewicz (28:09):
Kevin. Yeah, I mean, my role in this is that we hired about seven months ago an outstanding athletics director and knowing that Jay Batt would be able to evaluate, assess, and get us to the right place, and there was a process involved with that. I mean, Jay and I had weekly conversations around how the season was going and I was there to support him along the way. And last week in that last meeting we had actually down in Florida, we were having a conversation and I think it was still evolving at that point, but I knew we had the right athletics director that was going to find the right football coach if we decided collectively their change needed to be made. And I think we've said what Jonathan Smith meant to the place. He worked tirelessly for two years, and so we got the right athletics director, we've got the right football coach, and I'm upward and onward.
Matt Larson (29:05):
Alright, we'll go Steven and then or Jim and then Steven
Speaker 13 (29:09):
For Pat, Jim camponi spartan mag.com, you mentioned that it's always about the players first and foremost. I think tomorrow's signing day, I think Friday students and players will be leaving for winter break. How important are these next five days to secure players? I know you can't talk about recruits specifically and how important were the first few hours of your job once you became head coach to begin recruiting for tomorrow? And I imagine that's a unique situation here in the last 12 to 24 hours for you. Can you speak about that little
Pat Fitzgerald (29:41):
Bit? Yeah, my voice is a little raspy for a reason. The amount of FaceTimes I was on last night was, I think it stopped babe at 1130 I think when it was like, okay, I think this is too late to be calling kids in their homes. And so I still have some more to get to today. The goal was to get to half, and I think I got a little bit over that yesterday. I had to get through I think a 45 or hour long compliance meeting to make sure to talk about what we just said, that I'm high and tight on all the rules and up to date. So that's going to be the priority now all the way through we get this class signed and it could be ongoing beyond tomorrow. We'll see how that plays out. And then I zoomed with, the first thing I wanted to do is I wanted to zoom with the team.
(30:22):
And so once everything was finalized, I was able to do that very quickly just so they could put my face, my voice, and kind of just a few thoughts that I had for them into their mind and into their heart. And then that was the first thing I wanted to be able to do when I landed today was to address the squad. And then those end of the season meetings, I hope to get through as many as I can on Friday. I'll obviously lean heavily on the staff for that, that is still here working their tails off, and I appreciate that. And then maybe ongoing after students leave campus via Zoom or whatever necessary to be able to get in touch with young men and their families to try to keep the best that we can to be a part of this Spartan family. Because as I told 'em today, everybody that stays here is going to be a part of a great story when we sit here at this time next year, you are going to be the catalyst and the reason why when everybody asks why the answer is going to be you, so let's all talk about staying here, sticking together, and let's find a way to put this class that you guys helped recruit over the goal line.
(31:26):
And then we'll talk about adding pieces to the locker room once the portal opens here in a couple of weeks. A lot of work to do. Look forward to it. Look forward to it.
Matt Larson (31:35):
Alright, we have three more at the podium starting with Steven, Brad and Jacob.
Speaker 14 (31:39):
Pat right here. This question's for you. I'm wondering, as you look toward assembling a staff, what are sort of the traits and characteristics that will be top of mind for you and do those change in this era versus either when you started Northwestern or throughout that time? Obviously with things being different now,
Pat Fitzgerald (31:54):
I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.
Speaker 14 (31:56):
Oh, I don't think I said Steven Brooks, 24 7
Pat Fitzgerald (31:58):
Sports. Thanks. Thanks. Absolutely. It evolves and number one, I'm going to look for great people. I want coaches that are unbelievable human beings. If they're married, great, great husbands and great fathers, so our players can emulate that behavior. When we talk about football, it's going to be obviously their acumen to teach the game specifically to the positions that they coach. That's multifaceted. It's in the classroom, it's on the field. Obviously now with the changing landscape of OTAs, there's a whole adjusted calendar that we get to use to teach and walk through and do different things. So I'm looking forward to that opportunity that we never had. And again, I don't think that'll be the same a year from now. And with signing day being tomorrow, maybe if this was three weeks ago or four weeks ago, the priority probably would've been to try to secure staff first with signing day tomorrow.
(32:50):
It's to put this class over the goal line and then it's like multiple balls up in the air and then working the phones to start to really gauge the firm interest of staff and try to put the right pieces together first. And then it just, my experience goes very quickly after that. But we got a big basketball game tonight too. I'm fired up first time being in the building, and so I'll be probably, if you see me getting up and walking around, you'll having a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. It won't be talking to Stacy and the boys on FaceTime, so I'll be very busy.
Speaker 15 (33:21):
Brad, my question is for Pat. I'm in the back right over here. You've spoken about the legacy of this program, of the school of its fan base. I'm wondering for you personally, with all the openings across college football, I have to imagine this wasn't your only conversation and there were going to be more openings that are coming and years to come, if not in the next few weeks. Was there a moment with your wife, with your family, with your circle that you could take us into that really drove you that clicked to say Michigan State was the place for you
Pat Fitzgerald (33:54):
When this whole off season started to progress and there were a myriad of jobs that were opening? I think our team talked to about eight different schools, and as we worked through the process, Michigan State happened very quickly and it was presented to us as a family. And we sat, I think we were at the kitchen table after the first time Jay and I had a conversation and to see my boys smile, that's when I knew, but I didn't want to overhype it because you never know where these things go. And then as we talked about who we are, what we stand for as people, as three men, the choices and the decisions and the alignment and the resources that are going to be provided to our student athletes, to our assistant coaches, our program, to get this program back to a championship level. My excitement level just went up and up and up.
(34:45):
And then to be a Big Ten player, to be a player that's been in Spartan Stadium with a neck roll on right to beat Michigan multiple times with a neck roll on, this goes a long way back for me personally. And that's who I am. I'm a Big 10 guy. And to be able to be here with the history, the tradition, the passionate fan base, and the great young men that have come here before us and the great young men that I'm going to have the privilege to coach, I just can't wait to get started. So it was almost a no-brainer for me when the opportunity was presented.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
Jacob, go ahead and wrap us
Speaker 16 (35:22):
Up. Another one for Pat Jacob Kasika, MSU, Spartans, on Side Sports Illustrated is being away from the college ranks for three years. I think you said you were getting a PhD basically on the new landscape. Would say that's one of those few advantages maybe of being away than having to learn on the job? And if so, why?
Pat Fitzgerald (35:42):
Yeah, I think you'll always be learning on the job. I think you'll always be evolving. And again, with the way the landscape is, it's changing it seems like almost monthly, if not daily, so that won't stop. But when I stepped away, I was on a group called the 30 13 that was terrific led by Mike Tanenbaum, and then there were multiple coaches that are very good friends of mine that allowed me to go in and really intimately look under the hood on how they run their programs. I'll keep that private because I don't want to give away trade secrets, but it was a great experience in learning sabbatical for me, where you get a chance to step away, here's what I've done, here's what I have learned from these other people, and let's see if we can morph it and turn, and then I'll put this staff together and they'll have some unique ideas.
(36:26):
But the values, the way I want to go about the day-to-day and how we're going to develop our young man holistically, that is non-negotiable. And then as we put the little tweaks, what we run offensively, defensively, special teams, that's all going to be complimentary. We're going to be built at the line of scrimmage. We're going to be tough, we're going to be physical, and we're going to do it the Spartan Way, and you're going to watch that, and that's going to evolve and it's going to unfold, and I just can't wait to get to work here. Once we wrap things up and put a great class together, put a great staff together, and then get in the portal and put a great roster together. And before we'll be in spring ball and we'll be talking about who's on this and who's doing that, and it'll be a blast and we'll be off and running.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
All right. Well thank you for attending today. That concludes the formal portion of our event. And Go Green!