Back in the Big Ten, Pat Fitzgerald says he and Michigan State have ‘a bag of chips on our shoulder’

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Pat Fitzgerald stepped onto the stage at Big Ten football media days for the first time in three years Wednesday, but the Michigan State coach said he felt like he was never really out of the game.

Fitzgerald told a ballroom full of reporters at the Hilton Chicago that he hadn’t just been playing golf and sitting on the beach “sipping something strong” since Northwestern fired him in July 2023.

“I don’t think I ever left,” he said.

He served as a volunteer assistant at Loyola Academy, learning to be a better teacher by teaching curl routes to young players who asked, “What is a curl?” He spent time with coach Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, where his son Ryan now plays. He studied what other coaches did and formulated a plan for building a roster when he returned to the college game.

And now he’s back, wearing green and declaring that a Big Ten championship is the goal for a Michigan State program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2021. Because if any coach stood on the Big Ten stage and said differently, Fitzgerald would “want to check their pulse.”

“It’s hardened my resolve, and I’m just very thankful and grateful to be back in this role, to be one of 18 in this league,” he said. “And I understand what it means to be a coach in this league and to compete in this league. I’m going to give everything I have and more, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.”

After 17 years and a 110-101 record at Northwestern, Fitzgerald’s exit from the Big Ten was controversial.

He was fired when the Northwestern athletic department said football players reported hazing that included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.” Fitzgerald later sued the university for breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

He settled a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit against Northwestern in August 2025. In a statement after the settlement, Northwestern said its investigation did not find that Fitzgerald directed or condoned hazing. Michigan State hired Fitzgerald on Dec. 1 to replace Jonathan Smith.

During his return to Chicago this week, Fitzgerald walked the line between expressing his gratitude for rejoining the Big Ten and showing a bit of that hardened resolve.

When asked on the stage if he had a chip on his shoulder, he said: “I wouldn’t say I have a chip on my shoulder. I wouldn’t say our program has a chip on our shoulder. I’d say we have a bag of chips on our shoulder. I’ll leave it at that.”

But later with a smaller group of reporters, he spoke glowingly of his time at Northwestern, saying he looks back fondly on his tenure there and is thankful for the opportunities he received as a Wildcats player and a coach.

“When we lost Coach (Randy Walker, whose death at 52 in June 2006 thrust Fitzgerald into the head coaching job at 31), to be entrusted at a young age to be in the leadership role, those were bold decisions that were made by true leaders,” Fitzgerald said, “and I learned a lot from that group of people and I’m really grateful for that.

“I will always be there for the guys I had the privilege to coach and for their families. That’s typically where I get most of my text messages from. It’s from the guys that I played with, the guys that coached us, and then the guys that I had the privilege to coach and then the staff. We had such a loyal staff that was with me for so long, and I thought we built just a great, great program.”

Fitzgerald said Michigan State’s game against Northwestern on Oct. 17 in East Lansing, Mich., is likely to be “way overhyped in the media.” And he said he’ll have to “answer 9.7 million questions” when his focus should be on his players and team and on winning.

That’s what Fitzgerald said he missed the most during his time away. The competition and camaraderie. Winning on the field but also the little wins off it.

“Watching guys grow up,” he said. “Going from knuckleheads to becoming fathers and husbands and leaders of companies.

“That’s why I’m so grateful to be at State. Our football program should be winning. We should be winning championships. We have every resource. … We have one of the best fan bases in all of sport, and they want us to be there and they are going to be there to support us.

“I’m just excited to have a home-field advantage. Never lived that. It’s going to be cool. Really excited about it, not going to lie. So there’s certain things I’m excited about, but most importantly, I’m just excited to help the guys develop and grow.”

On that note, Fitzgerald plans to bring one Northwestern tradition with him to Michigan State. He will have his players vote on who gets to wear No. 1, a player who “embodies our values, the work ethic, the commitment, the giving of himself for the greater good of his teammate.”

At least one of Fitzgerald’s coaching friends is happy he’s back — sort of.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema said Fitzgerald called him in the fall when he was talking to another school about a job and Bielema was trying to help him get that one. Fitzgerald didn’t call him about the Michigan State job, Bielema recalled with a laugh.

“Well, I’m happy for Fitz, but I wish he would have gotten a job somewhere else,” Bielema said during his media availability Tuesday.

Bielema and Fitzgerald have a shared history. When Bielema was named Wisconsin’s head coach in 2006, he tried to hire Fitzgerald as his defensive coordinator, saying he went “full press” on him.

But Fitzgerald, then the Northwestern linebackers coach, had “purple in his blood,” Bielema said. He declined and was named the Wildcats head coach after Walker’s death.

After several years of coaching against each other and then a short break, they’re back to being rivals again. Illinois plays at Michigan State on Oct. 10.

“The game is better with Fitz in it overall,” Bielema said. “And I’m happy for him.”

Fitzgerald said he was humbled to hear it.

“I hope they say that less because we’re beating them,” he said with a laugh. “That will be earned.”

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