MSU football announces official retainment of Joe Rossi as DC

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Michigan State football made a notable official announcement on Thursday morning in relation to its coaching staff under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

The Spartansofficially announced the retainment of Joe Rossi as the Michigan State defensive coordinator on Thursday. There were reports that Fitzgerald would be keeping Rossi in the fold for next year, and that has now became official.

Rossi has been with Michigan State for the past two seasons, joining the Spartans staff under former head coach Jonathan Smith. Previous to coaching at Michigan State, Rossi was the defensive coordinator at Minnesota.

The Michigan State defense had some ups and downs under Rossi, but had a strong finish to the 2025 season given the tough circumstances. The Spartans defense played well down the stretch, putting forth strong enough efforts to earn wins in each of the final five games but other factors hindered Michigan State to come up victorious in most of the matchups.

Rossi will work alongside new Spartans staffer Max Bullough — who was officially hired as the Michigan State co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on Thursday as well. It’ll be interesting to see how these two will work together this upcoming season.

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State football announces defensive coordinator hiring

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