Michigan

Wojo: Tough and driven, Fitz fits the Spartans’ football brand

Published

4 months ago

December 3, 2025

East Lansing — A football play, like a football program, only succeeds when everyone is aligned correctly. No false starts, no illegal procedures.

On the first day of its next era, Michigan State was aligned in all the important ways, with all the important people. It’s the best place to start, and it’s the reason Pat Fitzgerald is here, preaching the Spartan staples of toughness and passion and intensity.

The MSU leadership — president Kevin Guskiewicz and AD J Batt — made the right decision to pick a new direction, which happens to be the preferred, traditional direction. Fitzgerald has been out of college coaching for three seasons, so it remains to be seen how quickly Fitz fits, and how he adjusts to the sport’s crazy new ways. But there’s no doubt he fits the brand and the plan, and with the school fully aligned behind him, he has a real shot to rebuild MSU into a perennial Big Ten contender.

“Toughness was born here, in Michigan State football,” Fitzgerald said at his introduction Tuesday. “And every game is going to be a focus of victory and winning. But there’s one game that just means a little bit more, doesn’t it? I’ll just leave that one alone. … I’m fired up for the challenge, and I’m ready to get to work. It’s just a great day to be a Spartan.”

In those few sentences, Fitzgerald perfectly defined what the Spartans have been, and want to be again. Somewhere in the blur of six ragged years, two divisive coaching regimes and several false starts, MSU lost its way. Batt and Fitzgerald offered proper respect for Jonathan Smith, but this plan was lining up as the Spartans’ 4-8 season unfolded.

Guskiewicz and Batt emphasized the support will be greatly enhanced, financially and otherwise. This was the same day the school launched FOR SPARTA, a capital initiative with the goal of raising $1 billion for all aspects of MSU athletics. It will be sparked if Fitzgerald quickly improves the product, and already is boosted by Tom Izzo’s continued excellence. Thanks to Izzo and Mark Dantonio, Fitzgerald has a blueprint — ahem, greenprint — of how to succeed here.

Build a resilient winner, and the donors and dollars will come. Batt handled this transition well, stealthily pursuing Fitzgerald and landing him with a modest incentive-laden $30-million, five-year contract that starts at $5 million annually. It’s a fair, well-timed match, as Fitzgerald needed a place to start over after his 2023 firing by Northwestern.

Does he have a lot to prove and an insatiable drive to do it? Sure sounds like it. He was 4-20 his final two seasons at Northwestern, but 110-101 overall in 17 seasons, and his teams played with grinding toughness and discipline. He was dismissed in the aftermath of a hazing scandal, and later settled a lawsuit for wrongful termination, with the school saying it found no evidence Fitzgerald knew about the improprieties.

When Fitzgerald talks, his motivational cadence conjures images of Izzo and Dantonio, both of whom he considers friends. He comes to East Lansing not as an outsider, but as a Big Ten man, a kindred spirit.

“As far as my motivation, you don’t have to ask me about that,” said Fitzgerald, whose voice trembled when he talked about his family’s support through the travails. “I’ve been dreaming about this day for a long time, and I don’t want to cry. I’m just so grateful, there’ll be no more motivated coach anywhere else in the country.”

In that regard, he mirrors the ambition of the program. Batt has been here six months, and by most accounts, has stirred donor support and fan interest. He found no reason to engage in unreasonable bidding for expensive, big-name candidates once he started talking with Fitzgerald.

It doesn’t appear a hard sell was required by either side.

“To reach that level of success, it requires alignment at every level,” Batt said. “On the field, I think the impact will be immediate. You can feel Coach’s energy, his attention to detail will be supreme. I know our team will reflect all those parts and pieces, and a little bit of toughness and grit might go with it.”

The impact should be immediate, but that doesn’t mean the winning will. The Spartans haven’t gone to a bowl game since 2021 and are 18-34 in the Big Ten during that span. After nearly six seasons of Smith and Mel Tucker, their roster is disjointed and depth-deprived.

Fitzgerald will be a whirlwind for a while, putting together a staff and trying to keep MSU’s recruiting class intact, with the signing period starting Wednesday. In his three years away from the game, Fitzgerald talked to coaches and studied the evolution of NIL and the transfer portal, while acknowledging the evolving continues.

That can be daunting, not knowing what your roster might look like, year to year. It also can be invigorating, knowing there’s always a fresh start available in the portal. When Guskiewicz and Batt laid out the fundraising and resource potential, Fitzgerald knew where he wanted to be.

“What excited me most about the vision for Michigan State was what J Batt said, having a top 10-athletic department that can be driven by success in football,” Fitzgerald said. “As I looked around the landscape, you see some non-traditional powers that are playing for conference championships, or in the playoff conversation. You better believe Michigan State should be in that conversation. That’s my job, and that’s why I’m here.”

He saw Izzo at lunch Tuesday, before the Spartans played Iowa at night. He’s talked frequently with Dantonio. He recalled how difficult it was to play in Spartan Stadium with the raucous student section, back when he was an All-American linebacker at Northwestern.

He’s seen the traits when the Spartans are great, and hears the resonance in the voices. He made a couple of references to MSU’s rival without mentioning Michigan by name. He knows the hits that play, and the hits that define Michigan State.

“I understand what the fan base wants,” said Fitzgerald, who turned 51 Tuesday. “They want a team that plays fast, tough and physical, with controlled aggression. … Obviously we know who our rival is, and our guys will know who our rival is, every single day. Our focus will be on us, we’ve got to get better.”

Michigan State football coach Pat Fitzgerald greets fans

Michigan State football coach Pat Fitzgerald greets fans at the Breslin Center on Dec. 2, 2025 in East Lansing.

And that’s where Fitzgerald directed the focus when introduced to the Breslin Center crowd during the first half Tuesday night. He was greeted by a throaty roar and a bear hug from Sparty, then took the microphone and unleashed the message.

“Let’s blow the roof off this thing!” he yelled. “We’re gonna get to work, and then let’s get Spartan Stadium rocking this fall!”

Izzo’s Spartans went on to stomp the Hawkeyes 71-52 to move to 8-0. Afterward, Izzo said he felt badly for Smith and the brutal nature of the business, but fully endorsed Fitzgerald for the same reasons others did.

“I think we made a helluva selection,” Izzo said. “He just is on a mission. Cool day for a guy who I think has a lot of Michigan State qualities.”

Now Fitzgerald gets a chance to align his program similarly, in the distinctive Michigan State way. It’s a tough task but he’s been preparing and waiting a long time for it, and knows exactly what he’s getting into.

bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com

@bobwojnowski

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Michigan

Michigan football, Kyle Whittingham add to personnel department, including former player

Published

5 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Michigan football, Kyle Whittingham add to personnel department, including former player

The University of Michigan has beefed up its football personnel department with multiple new hires, people with direct knowledge told USA TODAY Sports on Monday, March 23.

The Wolverines are adding former New York Giants director of scouting Chris Pettit and ex-Wolverines player and assistant coach Ron Bellamy to the staff of new general manager Dave Peloquin, who was hired last month by Kyle Whittingham and worked closely with Whittingham in these moves, according to people familiar with the process.

Pettit will serve as Michigan’s assistant general manager of player personnel; Bellamy has been tabbed as the program’s senior director of recruiting relations.

Sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the new hires have not yet been publicly announced by Michigan.

Working with the NFL’s Giants for almost two decades, from 2004-2022, Pettit was a part of the organization as it won a pair of Super Bowl championships and eventually rose from intern to the role of director of college scouting.

The Giants dismissed Pettit in May 2022 after they hired Joe Schoen as general manager.

Pettit had founded a scouting data service, Scout Smarter AI, that leaned into technology and data to supply what the company previously termed “a stat-based scouting” service for football.

Bellamy, who played at Michigan from 1999-2002, had been on the Wolverine coaching staffs of both Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore from 2021-25. He first served as Michigan’s safeties coach before he transitioned to coach wideouts, the position he played, the past four seasons.

Initially, Bellamy was not retained by Whittingham after Whittingham was hired away from Utah in late December.

But sources familiar with the process told USA TODAY Sports that Peloquin and Whittingham worked together to find a way to bring Bellamy back into the program.

In the overhauled personnel department, Bellamy and Pettit will join Skylar Phan, whom Michigan hired away from USC last month to become the Wolverines’ director of recruiting.

Michigan has completed its first week of spring practice under Whittingham and is scheduled to host its annual spring game on Saturday, April 18.

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Michigan

Sweet 16 crossroads for Nimari Burnett journey to Michigan basketball

Published

17 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Sweet 16 crossroads for Nimari Burnett journey to Michigan basketball

BUFFALO, NY — Nimari Burnett couldn’t help but shake his head as he thought about it.

As he sat in front of his locker at KeyBank Center, after Michigan rolled over Saint Louis to return to the Sweet 16. before the buses returned, he realized he’d be playing a former team one way or the other. His two former programs, Alabama and Texas Tech were set to meet in the NCAA Tournament second round. The winner would head to the Sweet 16 to face Michigan basketball at Chicago’s United Center, with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.

The team on which he made his college mark, playing against a squad where it didn’t work out, in his hometown, the place where he became a freshman All-American, before he transferred to Prolific Prep and took the next step of his journey.

“It’s an exciting feeling,” Burnett said. “I was talking to my family about it the other day. “Just can’t wait to see who we’ll play.”

On Sunday night, the Crimson Tide and Red Raiders squared off in Tampa, Florida, with XXX prevailing, xxx.

And now, Burnett’s basketball journey will get a full-circle moment, on Friday

But it will be just one of several big moments for him.

‘I’d be making a dumb decision’

A year ago Nimari Burnett, his now-fiancé, Will Tschetter and his girlfriend all went out to lunch at Cafe Zola in downtown Ann Arbor.

had been eliminated in the Sweet 16 about a week earlier, and the two longest-tenured Wolverines wanted a well-earned time away from the game to enjoy some food, friends and laughs.

Burnett had just finished his fifth year of college basketball and all season long, he’d been telling his teammates it was likely his last.

In fact, Burnett didn’t go through U-M’s senior day activities in March 2025, because he’d done so the year before, under the previous staff, and didn’t want to make the moment about himself, given he’d already had one.

But on that late March afternoon, Tschetter couldn’t help himself — he had to know.

“I remember straight up asking him, ‘What are your thoughts on next year?’” Tschetter said Saturday in Michigan’s locker room at KeyBank Center. “That was when, I think, he’d made his decision, he was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to pull the trigger and come back.’

“All year he’d been saying, like, ‘Nah, this is my last year.’ We were all getting the ‘Unc’ jokes in, because he was a fifth-year. But yeah, I mean we were all super, super happy when he made the decision. It’s been a great ride with him.’

Burnett made his return to the Wolverines official less than a month after that lunch, on April 21, 2025. He was optimistic, based on the roster coming together — transfers Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara were already in the fold, with the possibility of landing Yaxel Lendeborg — that the 2025-26 season could be a special one.

The staff’s message and vision only convinced him further.

“I felt like last year was the best year of college, until this year,” Burnett said, his eyes almost reflective, as if he was processing it all in real time. “My collegiate career has been long, been through a lot of ups and downs and so I was uncertain of the future.

“But just trusting the staff, understanding they had high hopes of winning and they know how to recruit. I was like yeah, I’d be making a dumb decision [to leave].”

Of course, Burnett didn’t know all that would follow. But after everything he’d gone through to that point, he was more than willing to take the chance.

The winding journey

A McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school, Burnett began his collegiate career at Texas Tech. After one injury-shortened year in Lubbock, Burnett didn’t like the fit, so he opted to transfer to Alabama.

The move to the SEC brought a world of changes. In the months leading up to the season, Burnett tore his ACL, which sidelined him for the entirety of the 2021-22 season. His next season wasn’t much better, playing fewer than 15 minutes a game, with a mere nine starts.

He hit the road again, landing in Ann Arbor in 2023 under coach Juwan Howard. That season produced some of the worst results in program history. But Burnett stuck through it, agreeing to play for his fourth coach when Howard was replaced by Dusty May.

Its tough to argue with the results.

The sixth year in college has proven to be the best yet. Michigan (33-3, 19-1 Big Ten) has had a historic season, tying the program record for most wins in a season, setting a Big Ten record for wins in conference play and became the first Big Ten team in 50 years to sweep its road slate.

The Wolverines have gone 60-13 the past two seasons, with a Big Ten Tournament title, a regular-season crown and now, two straight Sweet 16s.

It’s clear that his story is reaching its climax.

‘Literally, it’s God’

Burnett is not a star for this Wolverines team. He’s a floor-spacer, a shooter, a trusted veteran who fills in the gaps. But he’s also exactly what makes a team like this click. He doesn’t require the ball, yet can make an impact quickly — like his 11 points Saturday against Saint Louis, including three 3-pointers, and a steal at center court that he took the other way for a contested layup.

He’s also capable of much more — his 31 points against Penn State last month were the most by any Wolverine this season — but he never forces that issue. It’s the player he developed into through the years.

Coming into college as a star, being relegated to a backup, then finding his final form in Ann Arbor. It’s only fitting every aspect of his journey comes to a crossroads as the Wolverines reach their most important weekend so far.

“I mean literally, it’s God,” Burnett said. “It’s so apparent. He couldn’t have drew it up better.”

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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Michigan

Michigan hockey leads trio of top NCAA Tournament seeds from the state

Published

1 day ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Michigan hockey leads trio of top NCAA Tournament seeds from the state

Free Press staff and wire reports
| Detroit Free Press

Michigan hockey has its NCAA Tournament path to the Frozen Four, and it will be a tough one, as announced by the NCAA on Sunday, March 22.

The No. 1 overall seed Wolverines (29-7-1) – who are No. 1 in the USCHO poll and won won their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2023 on Saturday night – are headed to Albany, New York. U-M, making its record-tying 42nd NCAA appearance, will face 4-seed Bentley, the Atlantic Hockey champs, in the first round on Friday, March 27 (5:30 p.m., ESPNU).

Who else is in Michigan hockey regional?

The bottom half of U-M’s region should have some appeal to NHL prospect watchers, as well: Potential No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and Penn State will face Minnesota Duluth in the second game. The Bulldogs are led by Detroit Red Wings prospect Max Plante; the second-round pick in 2024 has 24 goals and 25 assists for UMD to sit fifth in points nationally.

The final for the Albany regional, which could be an all-Big Ten affair, is set for Sunday, March 29.

Two wins for the Wolverines would send them to the Frozen Four, which is set to be played at T-Mobile Arena (the home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights) on April 9-11. U-M hasn’t made the

Where is Michigan State hockey playing?

Meanwhile, Michigan State, the No. 3 overall seed, is headed to Worcester, Massachusetts. The Spartans (25-8-2), who won the Big Ten regular-season title but fell in the tournament semifinals, will face Hockey East runner-up Connecticut (20-12-5) on Thursday, March 26 (1:30 p.m., ESPN2).

The Worcester regional could also feature an all-Big Ten final on Saturday, with Wisconsin (21-12-2 to finish fourth in the Big Ten) facing ECAC champ Dartmouth on Thursday (5 p.m., ESPNU).

Where is Western Michigan hockey playing?

Finally, there’s Western Michigan, only the defending champs. The Broncos (26-10-1) will start their title defense as the No. 4 overall seed, and the top seed in the Loveland, Colorado, region. They’ll face CCHA champions Minnesota State (22-10-7) in the regional semifinal on Friday (2:30 p.m., ESPNU).

Despite having the champion bona fides and the 1-seed, the Broncos might be the underdogs to advance to the Frozen Four, as they’re likely to face host Denver (25-11-3) in the regional final; the Pioneers won NCAA titles in 2022 and ‘24 and beat WMU in the NCHC semifinals, 2-1 in OT, last weekend.

The 16-team field was rounded out with the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, regional, which features North Dakota – the No. 2 overall seed – facing Merrimack in the first round on Thursday, The bottom of that regional features another recent NCAA champ, as Quinnipiac (which won it all in 2023) takes on Providence.

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