00:09all right ladies and gentlemen we have Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald
00:15kind enough to join us here on the Valenian Rico show coach we appreciate your time for coming on
00:21and uh I just got a quick question for you to start things off what was the process like for
00:28you to become the head coach at Michigan State well first of all it's great to be on with you
00:32guys
00:33so thanks for the opportunity um yeah just I think like any other uh interview process I had the
00:39opportunity to visit with you know President Guskiewicz and and our great athletic director
00:45Jay Batt and uh just went through the process and ended up working out and couldn't be happier
00:53Pat what's the number one thing that has to change for Michigan State to get to where you
00:58know you can be yeah I think first of all we have to build genuine relationships and
01:03everybody get on the same page and it's been ongoing and something that we're heavily focused in on since
01:10we got going uh and that's going to be ongoing all the way through training camp you know we're going
01:16to add 13 more guys to the roster in uh June and so uh you know how that grow group
01:23molds in and
01:24meshes with with the rest of the team uh will be important so you know we'll start and end there
01:29uh and then you know the football side is just learning schematics fundo technique uh and getting
01:36as big and as strong and as explosive and fast as we possibly can coach we're talking to Michigan
01:42State head coach Pat Fitzgerald I've seen you at basketball games and man you're you're working the
01:47crowd out there like a car salesman really selling things to your players you sat out for a while
01:53and you said you took a PhD class and just learning what the new college football world is like
01:58now that you're back into this world what is recruiting like with the portal and the NIL
02:03yeah it's awesome yeah I mean it's it just evolved and tweaked a little bit but I think being on
02:09a
02:09little bit of a sabbatical I'm not as uh you know crusty as maybe some of my colleagues that are
02:14head
02:15coaches throughout the country that you know we're just you know tethered to the old way things were
02:21going on and that that's gone you know it's like looking out here you know out of my office right
02:26now at Chestnut and Shaw I don't see any dinosaurs walking on Munn Field out in front of the Munn
02:33uh
02:33you know hockey rink so uh you you gotta evolve you gotta you gotta move forward and uh yeah I
02:39think
02:40it's awesome but building relationships with guys and their families and their coaches getting them
02:44here to see the way that we work our players our amazing facilities um yeah no it's been it's been
02:51a great process so far and a ton of interest and just trying to bring the guys here they're going
02:55to help us compete and win a uh of a Big Ten championship and beyond and and uh it's the
03:00process we're working on right now well coach you talk about winning a Big Ten championship uh
03:05what are the expectations for this team and and I guess when can fans expect like you know a Big
03:11Ten
03:11championship or playoffs because it's like Kirk Signetti has kind of changed the game and raised
03:17expectations when it comes to fans because he did it so quickly yeah when when can you know it's a
03:22good time for Michigan State fans to say hey we got the coach we got the guy that can lead
03:27us to the
03:27playoffs yeah if the coach was out there making the plays I'd say uh you got them but I'm not
03:32I'd be
03:33VBH1 guys that'd be a one-hit wonder so uh it's not about me it's about the guys and and
03:39uh you know
03:40I I think that our expectation should be to win a Big Ten championship it should be to get in
03:45the
03:45playoff and and uh to go compete and win a national championship uh you know nobody gave anybody
03:52Indiana any any chance of that a couple years ago and you know coach was able to bring in a
03:57bunch
03:57of his guys from uh JMU and that worked out great and uh at other schools there were similar processes
04:04and it didn't work out as well so the credit goes to them but uh you know there's there's no
04:08predicting
04:08I think that should be everybody's goal at this level otherwise you know why the hell are you doing
04:13it coach Fitzgerald of the Michigan State Spartans joining us here on Valenti Enrico 97.1 coach we've
04:21heard some say that they enjoy recruiting more now because it's it's a simpler process there's a
04:27business part of the negotiation do you like the campus here are the good majors so on and so forth
04:33are you finding recruiting to be easier and harder than it was at Northwestern yeah I mean I think every
04:39school is unique and different and uh you know I think we've got so many great things here in East
04:44Lansing the community the student body the fan base uh that that doesn't like Michigan State
04:51football loves Michigan State football and uh you know I think that that just makes us so unique and
04:57then you know the story tradition uh Spartan Stadium our amazing facilities the great players that have
05:03been here before us that we stand upon their shoulders and we're getting a ton back and we'll have
05:09Spartan DogCon this summer and get a ton of guys back here in East Lansing which I'm really looking
05:13forward to um yeah I mean this this program has it all we've just got to put the right product
05:19on the
05:19field and uh you know so we're working on diligently every day how do you feel about the state of
05:26your
05:26NIL as it pertains to competing with your rivals yeah I think it gives us every opportunity to compete
05:32uh will I want more yes every day I want more I want more of myself of our staff of
05:37our players
05:38of our of our support staff you know you name it um that that's that's the job of the head
05:45coaches to
05:45push for more uh but J-Bat uh and and our staff in the athletic department and President Guskiewicz have
05:51been amazing their support has been incredible and you know we are where we're at today is not where
05:56we're going to be at you know moving forward but we we have every opportunity to compete here for
06:00championships and uh you know when we talked about kind of where we're at and where we want to go
06:05uh you know there there is no doubt that the leadership here is aligned uh with me and I'm
06:11aligned with them and and that's that's where we're heading that's the direction we're going
06:14coach you come from a very unique perspective because you coached in the Big Ten so you didn't
06:20have to be coached up I'm sure by anybody at MSU about the rivalry with the University of Michigan
06:26but did anybody share anything with you since you've been the head coach or did you already know
06:32coming in that this is a big rivalry between the two schools yeah no I you know I did I've
06:37done
06:37my research but uh no there's no doubt in my mind that uh I've been well educated by a lot
06:43of players
06:44a lot of the coaches a lot of those that have supported this program how important um you know
06:51that that that game is and that rivalry is to us here and uh you know we we are going
06:56to work our
06:57tails off to to win that game and uh there there is no doubt that uh the rivalry is uh
07:03in the front
07:04of our mind every single moment of every day Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald joining
07:10us here on Valenti Enrico 97.1 coach Alessio Milahoyevich where has he impressed you and where
07:16does he still need to grow I think from an impression standpoint his intelligence his football intelligence
07:22his willingness to you know be uncomfortable uh as a leader and and getting to know guys throughout
07:28the team and it just he's got that dynamic personality but that's not easy in this generation
07:33and to see how he uh embraces that and leans into that has been really impressive he can make all
07:38the
07:38throws uh and I think you know what's impressed me the most as a player is he's just just been
07:46driving himself and working his tail off to learn the offense and the nuances of it
07:51uh and and that's an ongoing process and we'll be like I said about our team all the way through
07:56training camp uh you know what does he need to do he just needs to execute the offense better you
08:00know that's that's everybody that's us as a staff and and our guys and you know too much is given
08:06much
08:06is expected and he's he's our quarterback so uh we expect him to operate and execute at a high level
08:12and he's improving on that every day coach you guys your spring showcase game coming up this
08:16Saturday for the fans who come to the game and watch or they watch it on tv
08:21what are the things that you want them to walk away from to say this is what Michigan State football
08:25is going to be under head coach Pat Fitzgerald yeah well we're excited to have the spring showcase
08:30you know it's free admission free parking on campus we'll start practice at noon and your gates will
08:35open at 10 30 for the fans have some fun and then there'll be free autographs uh with our guys
08:40afterwards uh I I would tell you this is I think my yeah it is my 18th as a head
08:47coach uh last
08:49practice in spring uh and if you include my I'm over 30 uh I would not read too much into
08:55anybody's
08:56spring showcase that's what I would tell our fans uh it's going to be a practice uh it'll be
09:01situational move the ball there'll be ebb and flow they'll be good and bad uh our goal is improve and
09:07get better and get off the field healthy so uh we look forward to having fun with our fans for
09:11the
09:11first time in Spartan Stadium but as far as the finished product we will be far from that uh when
09:17we walk
09:18off on Saturday okay so we won't see the finished product but come the fall this will be a team
09:23based on what running the ball passing the ball defense what's I guess what's going to be that
09:29Michigan State identity yeah I mean I think it's going to be toughness it was born here you know
09:33that's earned and we're still in that ongoing process but you know when when you pop on our tape
09:38I expect that you you just you see a tough physical minded uh brand of football and you know if
09:44it's
09:44run it 50 times then we'll do that if it's passed it 50 times then we'll do that uh I've
09:49I've done
09:50it all I've run the split back there I've been an empty uh we've gone four verts we've run triple
09:55option uh you know I just we're we're not doing all that stuff right now but you know my my
10:01point
10:01is this we're going to do whatever our players do best and we'll morph our offense and safety
10:06defensively and special teams into putting our best 11 out there to give us a chance to win the game
10:10but you guys have seen me on the hoof I'm not about beauty contest I'm about playing tough
10:15hard-nosed football and uh finding ways to win games and that's that's what we're going to do
10:19here and that's our plan and now we just got to grind work on it and then when our opportunities
10:24get going here in the fall at the opener against Toledo we got to start the thing the right way
10:28coach a question here that you're going to have to answer very very carefully
10:31Chicago or Detroit style pizza yeah without a doubt the thinner the better amen amen no no further
10:38comment required and the damn crust better be crunchy you know yeah I mean the rest of the
10:47stuff's overrated but the thinner the better the crunchier the better hey coach I do want to ask
10:52you this because I've read a great article in the USA today about you and what happened you at your
10:57previous school the Northwestern winning at Michigan State will that kind of be a vindication for you to
11:02show that you know what my way still works and you know what you guys should have never got rid
11:09of me
11:09but I've gone someplace else now and I'm going to be successful there yeah no my focus is on our
11:14players and our program and getting Michigan State football to where it belongs and that's winning
11:19Big Ten championships and competing and winning national championships so that's my sole focus that's
11:24what my my whole mind and energy and soul is is on every moment of every day and uh you
11:30know I tell
11:30the team I told the team early in the year like you know there's a windshield and a rearview mirror
11:35in every car and the windshield's about a hundred times larger than that that rearview mirror and so
11:41we're looking forward the gas pedals down all the way to the floor and uh just grateful for the
11:46opportunity to be here and look forward to making the Spartan nation proud coach appreciate your time
11:51the Michigan State showcase taking place this Saturday at Spartan Stadium uh what are the times again
11:58yeah 10 30 the gates open and then uh we should be uh rock and rolling to practice at uh
12:03at high
12:04noon so it should be a lot of fun coach appreciate your time man thanks for coming on thanks coach
12:08yeah thanks guys appreciate you having me in the Spartan nation go green all right that's Michigan
12:13State head coach Pat Fitzgerald kind enough to join us here on the Valenian Rico show 17 years in
12:19Chicago yeah prefers Detroit style pizza because 17 years Chicago style pizza is a casserole that's that's
12:28also true all right more your phone calls next 97 1
12:33you
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