Michigan
MSU to keep Joe Rossi as defensive coordinator on Pat Fitzgerald’s first staff
East Lansing — A couple of familiar faces are staying on with Pat Fitzgerald’s first football staff.
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and safeties coach James Adams will remain on Michigan State’s staff next season, first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel and confirmed by an MSU spokesperson.
Rossi, 46, joined Jonathan Smith’s inaugural staff in December 2023 after six seasons as defensive coordinator for Minnesota. Rossi originally signed a three-year contract worth $4.8 million in base salary. The Detroit News reported Friday that MSU athletic director J Batt added an extra year worth $1.7 million to Rossi’s contract two days before this season’s opener against Western Michigan, one of four wins in a 4-8 (1-8 Big Ten) season.
A 5-19 record over two seasons resulted in Jonathan Smith’s firing Sunday, and Fitzgerald took over Monday. Rossi’s current contract carries a buyout that would exceed $3.5 million if Michigan State had replaced him as defensive coordinator.
At the end of the 2025 season, Rossi’s defense allowed 29.9 points per game, which ranked 103rd out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 15th out of 18 Big Ten teams. An average of 378.7 yards allowed per game ranked 73rd in the FBS and 14th in the Big Ten.
Adams joined Smith’s staff in January after leaving Wake Forest, where he was an associate head coach and safeties coach. He began his career at Wake Forest as a graduate assistant in 2009 before making stops at Wofford, Charlotte, Western Michigan, Navy and Purdue. His contract, signed through Jan. 31, 2027, would have carried a buyout of $285,416.67.
Fitzgerald agreed to terms on a minimum five-year, $30 million contract that could automatically extend to eight years, $54 million if he wins seven games in his first three seasons. Fitzgerald previously coached at Northwestern from 2006 to 2022, a Big Ten West opponent of Rossi’s old Minnesota teams. Fitzgerald also coached against Adams in 2021, when the latter was at Purdue.
Of 11 assistant football coaches under contract with Michigan State, five are on contracts that expire Jan. 31. If Michigan State were to turn over the remaining staff beyond Rossi and Adams, it would cost the university $2,524,000.
That is on top of the estimated $33.5 million owed Smith, which Batt told The News on Thursday will be paid by athletic department funds.
All those contracts, including Smith’s and Rossi’s, are subject to a mitigation clause in which the salary paid by the coach’s next job offsets the buyout amount owed by Michigan State.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
Police in Muskegon, Michigan, are investigating after a man and woman were killed, and three other people were injured in a shooting on Saturday.
According to officials, the incident happened on the 600 block of Jackson Avenue. Responding officers found “multiple individuals” who had been shot, police said.
A 25-year-old man died at the scene, according to police, and a 22-year-old woman was taken to the hospital where she later died.
Two other 25-year-old men were taken to the hospital in critical condition, officials said. A 4-year-old with minor injuries was also transported there.
Investigators said the shooting doesn’t appear to be random, though it hasn’t yet been disclosed whether an arrest has been made.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Muskegon Police Department at 231-724-6750 or Silent Observer at 231-722-7463.
Muskegon is around 197 miles northwest of Detroit.
WEXFORD COUNTY, Mich. – Communities across Northern Michigan are coming together to support the loved ones of Rebecca Park, the 22-year-old pregnant mother found dead in Manistee National Forest last month.
Earlier this week, Park’s biological mother and stepfather, Cortney and Bradly Bartholomew, were charged with her murder. Both are facing a long list of charges, including first-degree murder and torture, and are accused of stabbing Park to death and removing her unborn baby.
The couple appeared in court virtually and were denied bond.
Park leaves behind two young sons, who are now being cared for by her adoptive parents. A GoFundMe started to support the care of her children has already raised more than $5,000.
“It means a lot to the family to know that there are people out there who support us and supported Rebecca in this horrible, horrible situation and that feel for her children because this is not going to be easy for any of the kids involved,” Rebecca’s adoptive mother Stephanie Park told NBC affiliate UpNorthLive.
A vigil will take place Saturday evening in Boon Township near where Rebecca’s body was found. In nearby Manton, Cedar Creek Café is planning a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to support the family. The fundraiser will take place on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Manton Consolidated Schools.
Restaurant owner Martha Snyder says Rebecca stopped by the restaurant with her fiancé shortly before her death.
Snyder says Rebecca was excited about the birth of her son, whom she planned to name Richie.
“We talked about her pregnancy, how far along she was, that she was due in November,” Snyder told Local 4.
Snyder says the news of Rebecca’s gruesome killing has shaken their quiet community to its core.
“It’s traumatic,” Snyder said. “I have never heard of anything so horrendous in my life. Most everyone I know has never heard of anything so evil and horrendous in their lives, so I think that in and of itself speaks volumes. It’s unconscionable, it’s unimaginable, and it is evil.”
Snyder said she feels fortunate to have met Rebecca through their chance encounter. She’s now using her business to raise as much as she can to support Rebecca’s family during such an unimaginable loss.
“It just seemed like the only thing to do, and it also seemed like the only way for people to be able to get together and support one another through it,” Snyder said.
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe here.
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Amid a rise in flu cases throughout Michigan, the Detroit Medical Center is implementing new visitor guidelines.
The new guidelines are effective at all DMC locations, including the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, beginning Monday, Dec. 8.
DMC’s new visitor guidelines are as follows:
- All patients are allowed up to two visitors at any one time.
- Visitors ages 12 and under, including siblings and other relatives, will not be allowed on inpatient hospital floors or in the observation units.
- Visitors ages 13 and over who have a fever, cough or rash are asked to visit patients at another time. This applies to both private and semi-private rooms. If hospitals have policies that are more restrictive than the proposed guidelines, they will continue to use them.
- Visitors who exhibit illness or cold symptoms are encouraged to visit during a period of wellness.
“We have seen a marked increase in flu positivity in pediatric patients, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has also reported an uptick across the state,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, MPH, Corporate Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology and Antibiotic Stewardship for Detroit Medical Center. “So we wanted to move quickly to protect our patients and the community.”
State officials say that there were 14 pediatric influenza deaths during the 2024–2025 flu season — the highest mark since the state began tracking pediatric flu mortality in 2004.
Between October 2024 and May 2025, state health officials reported more than 33,000 hospitalizations related to influenza.
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