Pat Fitzgerald may be on the verge of returning to coaching college football.
The Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal reported Sunday that Michigan State plans to hire Fitzgerald as its new coach after firing Jonathan Smith.
A ‘motivated’ Pat Fitzgerald returns to coaching at Michigan State: ‘You always learn and evolve’
Fitzgerald, who went 110-101 with 10 bowl appearances in 17 seasons as Northwestern’s coach, hadn’t signed a contract as of midday Sunday, the outlets reported. He won two Big Ten West titles with Northwestern, where he also was an All-America linebacker in the 1990s.
A Tribune source said Fitzgerald is a serious candidate for the Michigan State job and the sides planned to talk Monday.
Fitzgerald has been in conversations with other schools after eight universities reached out to his representation about their openings, according to his agent, Bryan Harlan of Excel Sports. But he withdrew his name from some of those talks.
It would be Fitzgerald’s first college coaching job since Northwestern fired him in July 2023 amid a team hazing scandal. The university said at the time that 11 current or former football players had acknowledged hazing that included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.”
In August, Fitzgerald and Northwestern announced they had reached a settlement in his $130 million lawsuit against the university for breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In a statement following the settlement, Northwestern said its investigation did not find that Fitzgerald directed or condoned hazing.
“While the litigation brought to light highly inappropriate conduct in the football program and the harm it caused, the evidence uncovered during extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing,” the university said. “Moreover, when presented with the details of the conduct, he was incredibly upset and saddened by the negative impact this conduct had on players within the program.”
The university said then it wished Fitzgerald “the best in resuming his football career.”
Fitzgerald said on ESPN’s “College GameDay” podcast in early November that he was looking for a coaching job.
“I feel fully vindicated,” he said in his first public comments since his firing. “It’s been great working through this process. There’s been conversations with a lot of folks.”
Michigan State fired Smith after the Spartans went 4-8 this season, including 1-8 in the Big Ten. He was 9-15 over two seasons.
“The 2025 football season has not lived up to our shared standards for Michigan State football,” athletic director J Batt said in a statement. “While that does not fall solely on Jonathan Smith, it’s become necessary to make a coaching change in order to chart a new direction for the program.
“Michigan State football has a proud history, a history that includes national championships, Rose Bowl victories, Big Ten championships, and a College Football Playoff appearance. The standards for our program have not changed. It is our expectation that we compete for championships.”
