MSU Football B1G Media Days Recap

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Today is the third and final installment of Big Ten football media days in Chicago, IL and Michigan State got their chance to meet the press yesterday. Spartans quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, linebacker Jordan Hall, and safety Nikai Martinez joined head coach Pat Fitzgerald in the Windy City.

Perhaps the most important thing about media days is simply a mark on the calendar. This means the start of fall training camp is just around the corner, with the season kickoff not far behind.

I am not a media days expert by any means, but these things also seem to be an exercise in positivity, and you can never have enough of that. I don’t think a coach goes to podium and says something like “Well, spring practice was tough. We are slow and tackling, passing, running, and catching are hard for us. I don’t think we, as coaches, can scheme our way out of this one and I don’t see it getting much better in fall camp. Hit me up again next year, if I’m still employed.”

No, there were no Debbie-downers in yesterday’s group of coaches and, perhaps appropriately, Minnesota’s PJ Fleck was first to the podium. I’m certainly not a Coach Fleck expert either, but the Gophers’ leader seemed pretty true to form here, Ski-U-Mahing and rowing the boat like the Big Ten champion would be decided at that podium.

Fleck spoke enthusiastically for about 13.5 of his allotted 15 minutes, leaving little time for media questions.

Next up was Fitzgerald, who kept his opening statement a bit more succinct, allowed time to answer questions, and even jokingly offered to answer some Minnesota questions, given that Fleck sort of looked past that part of it.

So, did Fitzgerald, or any of the Spartan players, say anything eye-opening or significant? You can be the judge. I think so, but you’ll have to read all the way to the end to see why!

Here is a recap of MSU Football’s media day appearance.

Interestingly, at least to me, was that Fitzgerald and each of the six coaches that were featured today, spoke very highly of Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti in their opening remarks. Maybe this happens at every media day event but each head coach made a point to recognize and thank Petitti for what he’s done for the conference.

Then, Fitzgerald reiterated several points that he’s emphasized since he’s been in East Lansing: thanking Spartan Nation, saying it feels great to be back, and that MSU is a special place where toughness was born. The head coach spoke highly of the three players representing Michigan State in Chicago and noted that the team achieved a program best 3.22 GPA in the last semester before taking questions from the podium.

On his emotions about returning the game: Fitzgerald said his emotions are irrelevant but that he’s excited to back in a leadership role. What is important is university alignment and the retention of president Kevin Guskiewicz.

On possible starters this fall: Fitzgerald said he feels good about the team’s depth, specifically mentioning 11-12 guys competing for playing time on the offensive line. He said MSU would work to sort out starters in the first two weeks of fall camp and that they will look to play a lot of guys, at least early in the season. Fitzgerald also noted that the new 5-year eligibility rule (and no more redshirts) gives MSU access to their entire roster for playing time.

On what success would look like in 2026: Fitzgerald wasn’t shy about saying winning the Big Ten, but acknowledged that all 18 head coaches should say that. He then stated more realistic goals of returning tough, hard-nosed football to East Lansing and making Spartan Nation proud.

On the Spartans’ chip on the shoulder mentality: “There’s no chip on the shoulder . . . there’s a bag of chips.”

On a surprising vocal leader on this year’s team: Fitzgerald didn’t hesitate to state Martinez, saying that is was crucial that the fifth-year senior safety returned.

On his revelations during his time away from football: Fitzgerald noted that, after his departure from Northwestern, he has remained involved in the game – serving as the offensive scout team coach at Loyola Academy High School in Illinois. He has also been around the Iowa program and made a point to thank Hawkeye’s head coach Kirk Ferentz for keeping him close to the game (more on Iowa and Ferentz later). Fitzgerald also noted that he has studied the art of roster building in the transfer portal era while looking for a program that was hungry to win and where football was important.

On assistant head coach/special teams coach LeVar Woods impact on the program so far: Fitzgerald says he has three great coordinators on staff but has long been a fan of Woods. He said Woods will be a head coach some day and part of what lured him to East Lansing from Iowa was that Fitzgerald pledged to help him take that next step.

Shortly after Fitzgerald wrapped up at the podium, Hall, Martinez, and Milivojevic met with the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine. They were asked about their first impressions of Fitzgerald and each mentioned his energy, along with excitement, engagement, fire, and passion – things that many Spartan fans might say have been lacking from the head coach position recently.

When asked about the differences under Fitzgerald’s leadership, Hall mentioned 6 AM spring practices but Milivojevic said there is more energy and Martinez emphasized a better sense of brotherhood among the players.

Milivojevic was asked what he learned from starting the last four games of the season last year and said he has gained confidence and now looks to build off it. The Spartans’ QB said things were moving really fast in his first start at Minnesota but had slowed down for him considerably by the season finale against Maryland.

Hall and Martinez were asked about the identity of the defense and Hall stated “How – Toughness – Technique”. Martinez backed that up with “detail-oriented,” which hopefully pans out and prevents the coverage busts we frequently saw in the secondary the last two seasons. For the offensive identity, Milivojevic stated “the Spartan Way – as hard as you can for as long as you can.”

Milivojevic was also asked about the MSU running backs and he listed off most of the players at that position including, perhaps notably, Jace Clarizio. The redshirt freshman was a highly-rated recruit but didn’t get on the field last season, perhaps primarily due to an injury. It will be interesting to see if Clarizio is able to make an impact this year.

Finally, the players were asked what would be the most important thing for MSU this year. Hall said consistent week-to-week growth while Martinez said staying where their feet are, meaning not looking to far ahead or dwelling in the past. Milivojevic seemed to back that up when he said staying process-oriented and focusing on the next play, not the last one.

After the players, Fitzgerald sat with the Big Ten Network crew of Revsine, Gerry DiNardo, and Howard Griffith. Here, he talked a bit more about the changes in college football, notably the increased size of the coaching and support staffs. Fitzgerald said that now there is a whole front office staff in addition to the on-field coaches, which have also increased. This has allowed for practices to be broken down so more can be gained in the same amount of time.

Fitzgerald reiterated that MSU plans to play more guys due to having a healthier team while also stating the Spartans will “put toughness back on tape” and the team is eager to do this.

He continued to speak highly of his coordinators (Woods on special teams, Nick Sheridan on offense, and Joe Rossi on defense) but noted that, for this first year at least, Fitzgerald wants to be in the rooms with the coordinators more and a bit more hands on here. Fitzgerald also said the Spartans’ coordinators are experienced coaches with Midwestern roots by design.

Just a few more nuggets from Fitzgerald:

On QB Milivojevic: Fitzgerald noted his toughness and that there was not doubt he wanted to be the starting quarterback at MSU. He wasn’t interested in how much he was going to get paid and that, from the beginning, the Spartans were going all in on Alessio. Fitzgerald also said transfer Cam Fancher is “QB – 1B” who brings a lot of experience to the quarterback room.

How the Spartans will handle adversity and fight through it: Fitzgerald said they will “respond” instead of “react”, which he thought might have been part of the reason for the Spartans’ struggles the last few years.

On Iowa’s program: One of Fitzgerald’s sons is a quarterback at Iowa, which is part of what brought him close to that program and head coach Kirk Ferentz. Fitzgerald praised Iowa’s consistency, as I think Mark Dantonio did when he came to MSU. I don’t think this is surprising but it did make me wonder – will the Spartan fan base be happy with an Iowa level of consistency?

In 27 seasons at Iowa, Ferentz has gone 209-128 overall and 133-91 in the Big Ten. This averages out to about 8-5 overall and 5-3 in conference or 7.75 – 4.75 and 5 – 3.37 if we want to get a bit more exact about it. After his first two years, when the Hawkeyes went a combined 4-19, Ferentz has endured just two losing seasons in Iowa City, and one of those was the 6-7 campaign in 2006.

Ferentz has taken Iowa to two Orange Bowls and one Rose Bowl in his 27 years and the Hawkeyes have yet to make the College Football Playoff. The closest they came was in 2015, where Iowa entered the Big Ten Championship game at 12-0 but fell, on LJ Scott’s reaching TD, to the Spartans, who got the spot in the what was then a four team CFP. Iowa settled for their only Rose Bowl under Ferentz.

My guess is that Spartan fans, at some point again, expect to average more than 7-8 wins per season. Yes, compared to the last four seasons, Iowa’s consistency sounds great. However, it may not stack up as well compared to the prouder moments in Spartan football. What say you, TOC? Let us know in the comments.

Full videos of Fitzgerald at the podium and the players and head coach with the Big Ten Network crew are below.

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