ITP's Fall Six-Pack: Michigan State Spartans
Episode notes
Ryan and Clinton continue with fall previews, and Jonah Wilson from Spartans Illustrated joins the show to talk Michigan State ahead of year one of the Pat Fitzgerald era.
Fitzgerald has been out of college football since his dismissal as Northwestern's head coach following a hazing investigation during the offseason prior to the 2023 season. He has since been acquitted of wrongdoing, but this underscores the fact that his Wildcats program won three or fewer games in 3 of his last 4 seasons, including a 1-11 mark in 2022. For a school that has undergone its own share of turmoil in the offseason having to also replace its president and athletic director, what is the level of confidence in Fitzgerald to right the ship in East Lansing?
Improvement on offense starts with the line. The Spartans allowed 37 sacks and were 15th in the Big Ten in rush yards per game last season. How much better can this line be with four new starters? They also went portal shopping at RB, bringing in UConn star Cam Edwards. How much can he elevate the run game?
Fitzgerald retained defensive coordinator Joe Rossi as playcaller, and brought in former Spartan LB Max Bullough as LB coach/co-DC. The Spartans struggled creating havoc in 2025, amassing just 22 sacks and nine takeaways. How can this duo manufacture more chaos for opposing offenses in 2026?
Join us on our Youtube channel live for shows. We are back into fall preview season. Episodes will be live on Youtube throughout the week as schedule permits, with the episode dropping in your podcast feed the following morning. Follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on our fall preview episode schedule, to get notified when we are going live and to interact with the show. Subscribe on your preferred podcast platform to get notified as soon as a new episode drops so you never miss a show.
LINKS:
Twitter: https://x.com/ITPCFB
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ITPCFB/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0duY5MWU52VLBGm8sO7eaI