Reports: Michigan State fires Jonathan Smith, intends to hire Pat Fitzgerald

Field Level Media|published: Sun 30th November, 17:33 2025

Nov 19, 2022; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald walks the sidelines during the second quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The Jonathan Smith era at Michigan State has ended; the Pat Fitzgerald era is about to begin.

The Spartans fired Smith on Sunday, according to ESPN. Not long after that news could be viewed across people's screens, Yahoo Sports reported that Michigan State intends to hire Fitzgerald as his successor.

Fitzgerald last coached in 2022 for Northwestern. The Wildcats went 110-101 across his 17 seasons while recording a few double-digit-win campaigns and claiming a handful of bowl victories.

However, Fitzgerald finished his last two seasons with the program a combined 4-20. Worse, Northwestern fired the program's longtime coach in July 2023 due to a hazing scandal that the school said included "forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature."

That kind of off-field scandal will be very familiar to both Michigan State and Smith, who took over for the program in November 2023 after Mel Tucker's firing two months prior amid sexual harassment allegations following several NCAA violations.

Smith lost his job after a 4-8 campaign that saw the Spartans follow up a 3-0 start with an eight-game losing streak. Michigan State lost to then-1-4 UCLA, then-3-6 Penn State and rival Michigan during that stretch.

Smith finishes his Spartans tenure 4-15 after the NCAA vacated all five of Michigan State's wins from his debut 2024 season, as well as nine more wins from the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, due to recruiting violations during the Tucker era.

Smith entered Michigan State coming off a 25-13 run during his last three seasons with Oregon State, where he went 34-35 overall.

--Field Level Media