Pat Fitzgerald

Head Coach, Michigan State University Football

One of the winningest coaches in Big Ten history, Pat Fitzgerald has built his legacy on leadership and resilience. A College Football Hall of Fame inductee, he draws on his experience as both an elite player and longtime head coach to shape programs rooted in discipline and sustained success.

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Bio

Tough, hard-working, enthusiastic, passionate and motivational are all words used to describe Pat Fitzgerald. Those words are true, but there is another that fits him also: winner. One of the winningest football coaches in Big Ten history, Fitzgerald was named Michigan State’s head football coach on December 1, 2025.

During his 17 seasons as head coach at Northwestern, Fitzgerald won 110 games, guided the Wildcats to 10 bowl games, secured five AP Top 25 finishes, and twice won the Big Ten West. Coach Fitzgerald was tabbed Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018 as well as the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2020.

Fitzgerald’s drive to win did not begin with his coaching career; it was first showcased during his time as a player. As an All-American linebacker for Northwestern from 1993 to 1996, Fitzgerald was a two-time winner of both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award for best defensive player in college football. He was awarded a Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1997 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. He also starred on the 1995 Northwestern team that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl.

In his first year as head coach at Northwestern, the Wildcats struggled to get their footing, finishing 4-8 overall. Coach Fitzgerald then led the Wildcats to an improved 6-6 the following year before going 9-3 in the 2008 regular season. This turnaround season gave them a chance at their first bowl game under Fitzgerald, the Alamo Bowl. The successful 2008 season led to Fitzgerald being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

In 2009 the Wildcats defeated a previously undefeated No. 4 ranked Iowa team, marking the highest ranked opponent defeated by the team under Fitzgerald’s direction. This win, combined with a successful season, landed the Wildcats a spot in their first New Year’s Day bowl since 1996. After the successful 2012 season, Fitzgerald became one of two coaches in school history to coach two nine-win Wildcat teams. Fitzgerald then coached the Wildcats to their first bowl victory in 64 years in the 2012 Gator Bowl.

In 2013, Fitzgerald led the team to a 10-3 record, tying for the most wins in school history. In both 2015 and 2017, the Wildcats ended the season 10-3, before adding nine wins in 2018. Under Fitzgerald, the Wildcats won their last four bowl games, winning the Big Ten West Division in both 2018 and 2020.

Fitzgerald began his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant at Maryland and Colorado, before his first full-time position as a linebackers and special teams coach at Idaho in 2000. He returned to Northwestern in 2001 as a defensive backs coach and later served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2006, Fitzgerald was named head coach, at just 31 years old, making him the youngest head coach in the FBS at the time of his hiring.

Beyond coaching, Fitzgerald was also very active in the Northwestern community, participating in numerous charities, including the Special Olympics and the NU chapter of Uplifting Athletes. He was named honorary coach of the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team for his dedication to the community.

Fitzgerald and his wife Stacy, have three sons: Jack, Ryan and Brendan.

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