Pat Fitzgerald: “We’re Raising the Standard” for Michigan State football

On Saturday, Michigan State football suffered their first loss of the Pat Fitzgerald era. The Spartans traveled to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Entering the game, the Spartans were underdogs by 28.5 points. Pat Fitzgerald’s squad held the Irish to 27 points while putting up 10 of their own, maintaining “dignity in defeat.”

For the newest Spartan head coach, that is not enough. After the game, the head coach spoke with media, re-iterating that he was, quote, “pissed off.” There was no satisfaction, no moral victory. The coach instantly refuted the idea of a moral victory to the media on Saturday, and admitted his frustration did not boil down to his players, but himself and the staff for not coaching his players to rely on their instincts.

Fitzgerald admitted that once the Spartans flew back from South Bend, there would be a sleepless night and an early morning on Sunday. The coach wanted to review film, see what went wrong, and touch base with all the positional coaches to keep the ship headed in the right direction.

On Monday, Fitzgerald spoke on his emotions about the loss. During his press conference, he noted that he was sorry if his tone was off, as he was still upset at missed opportunities for Saturday’s game. The Spartans had the mindset and mentality that they were going down to South Bend to take the Megaphone. The belief and desire was there, the execution when the ball was kicked was not.

He had a small half-smile when saying his wife, Stacy, messaged him asking if he had punched a wall after the loss. Fitzgerald stated that those days of wall punching are beyond him. The desire to fight and the need to win is just as strong as when he was an All-Big Ten linebacker at Northwestern. The anger, mostly reflected towards himself on what could have been done, are driving the coach forward for this weekend.

Avoiding “Rat Poison,” Even After a Loss

After the loss on Saturday, the fanbase took Fitzgerald’s comments, his fiery attitude that there will be a brand new Spartan team waiting for Notre Dame next year, and embraced it. Fitzgerald laid out an action plan for the Spartans, and knows what his team needs to fix.

From special teams to getting the ball out faster to improving press coverage, Fitzgerald has a laundry list that he needs to harp on with the staff, and the players are reacting well. The former Big Ten Coach of the Year revealed Monday’s practice had no finger-pointing and buy in towards becoming the solution that will save the Spartans.

The idea of a moral victory, even though Fitzgerald refuted it, lingered in the air when it came to the Spartan fanbase. The coach went to Northwestern, he is smart and savvy enough with technology to know both himself and his team see the quotes that “a team that was underdogs by 28 points held the No. 3 Irish to 27 points in their own house,” and how that means stock is up on the Spartans.

In an homage to former Michigan State head coach Nick Saban, Pat Fitzgerald said his team cannot buy in to the rat poison that the media is feeding the team after a loss.

“Listen, we’re taking a standard up and getting it to where it needs to be,” Fitzgerald told the media. “It’s my job to get it there. I’d be blind if I didn’t say a little bit of that (the fan reaction to a 17-point loss to Notre Dame) is rat poison. Like, ‘hey, good job, you played hard.’ That drives me crazy, nuts.”

He later continued on saying the Spartan fanbase deserved better.

“We need to earn that support, and not winning games is not bringing it. I’m thankful and grateful for the support, but we’re raising the standard of expectation, and we should be held accountable for that. That’s all of us, that is where we’re heading.”

The Michigan State head coach knows the standard to winning, and the importance of support in Big Ten games. The fanbase is one that deserves better, and Fitzgerald gets a chance to show how the team rebounds from a loss on Saturday at 5 p.m. EST against Nebraska.