Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Season 3, Episode 2: Fitz-Magic our way out of Poverty!
32 Plays5 months ago
Due to technical difficulties, the episode is being posted days after we recorded (12/5) and a LOT has happened. Therefore, this episode has our thoughts on the first week of the Fitz era.
Another ep will come soon covering everything that has happened in the 2nd week of the Fitz Era
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome Back & Donation News
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to The Search. We are back after a several week hiatus and du dooooo dooo we have breaking news.
Greg Williams' Generous Donation
00:00:11
Speaker
Zando, Ryan, rumors of our poverty have been greatly exaggerated. Yeah, $401 million dollar donation today from Greg Williams.
00:00:23
Speaker
Great from his account, nothing from Acresure, so... I want the record to show of always loved billionaires. Oh, it's sick. Yeah, this is the one exception I'll make where I'll be like, yeah, I like that billionaire.
00:00:38
Speaker
you all this If you're not going to bridge the poverty gap, you know this is about the second second best thing you can do. He's fighting poverty by
Billionaire Investments in Sports
00:00:48
Speaker
keeping our program from becoming a poverty program.
00:00:51
Speaker
This is fighting poverty.
00:00:55
Speaker
And honestly, honestly, I'd rather have my – I was explaining this to somebody at work today because I was like saying like this insurance guy that I had never heard about before a year ago ah donated $400 million dollars to our school's athletics program. And I was like, you know, I rail on billionaires. like Like you said, I rail on billionaires all the time. I would rather if a billionaire wanted to put his money into something stupid like sports, go for it. Like
Anonymous Donation Approach
00:01:19
Speaker
– all right, sports are not stupid, but I'd rather have them put it into like like a fucking athletic department rather than try and like put it into politics or try to like, i don't know, like do um ah eugenics in West Africa. Jesus Christ. Or take over your favorite social media and and start censoring everything. That is yeah also a great point, yeah. Yeah, honestly, like this this is like –
00:01:45
Speaker
This benefits this is benefits me, and i i maybe because I have the blinders on, I don't see the negative repercussions of this. No. Not at all. um The $400 million dollars donation?
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah. There's no. There's none,
Financial Decisions Critique
00:02:01
Speaker
actually, for this. Yeah, you'd think. What's the worst? doesn't even want his name on it. He doesn't even want his name on the stadium. It's all from him. It's not from his company.
00:02:10
Speaker
It's from his own personal account. and Which is like... I'd rather he put money in her football team than in like another mega yacht. So, like yeah, fuck it. is a great thing. Public service.
00:02:21
Speaker
Yeah, let's fucking go. Also, like I think I saw SD post this. It's like, makes you wonder, what the fuck was Alan Haller even doing? I
Controversial Arena Spending
00:02:31
Speaker
mean, had you seen the movie Paul Mart, Mall Cop?
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah. Like, what the fuck? Yeah. Also, Alan Haller was like, I'm going to spend $200 million dollars that we don't have to build a fucking what? ah so The Olympic olympic arena. Slick Nick Shady was in absolute shambles after they pulled the
MSU Athletics Support
00:02:55
Speaker
funding for that. Job. Job.
00:02:59
Speaker
Olympic sports arena and indeed application things that trigger. I guess he wanted, you he wanted to rebuild the the baseball stadium too. I'm like, what the fuck man? Like, i didn't like do that. I was like, I am sorry, but like there, nobody cares about MSU athletics unless you're non-refs for sports
Greg Williams' Background
00:03:20
Speaker
person, which whatever you do your own thing, but no one cares about sports and MSU outside of football, basketball and hockey.
00:03:28
Speaker
And maybe women's basketball now. Okay. Maybe. But yeah. So. Too bad. was just The real secret is it's just football and Tom Izzo. That's the real secret.
00:03:44
Speaker
Yeah. Also, like like I was looking at like Greg Williams' background. he didn't even go to MSU. He went to Western. he
Comparing Donations: Ishbia vs Williams
00:03:50
Speaker
went to west oh he went to Western. Oh, okay. okay But he's Tom Izzo's boy.
00:03:55
Speaker
All right. Cool. just he was born he was born He was born in Allianzine. Yeah. i think he grew in Allianzine. I appreciate you Greg Williams. And if anybody wants to one-up you ah from the other billionaires, you know, have at her.
00:04:11
Speaker
Be a real shame, wouldn't it? Yeah. I mean, i think Ishpia's money is like locked up in the suns and kind of that is going to go into NIL. I'd like
J-Bat's Fundraising Skills
00:04:22
Speaker
290 into the four Sparta thing, which is going renovate the stadium and put a glowing Spartan projection, Spartan helmet projection in front of the North end. 290 going into that and a hundred into NIL.
00:04:40
Speaker
I mean, that's quite a bit of cash. Biggest donation in college sports history, apparently. Yeah, so, I mean, i guess that comes back to how do you guys feel about J-Bat now?
00:04:56
Speaker
ah I wasn't, like, completely out on him. Like, I wanted to see who he hired. And at first I wasn't – we're going get into the Fitzgerald stuff. I wasn't very excited about it. But, I mean, hell, the dude can front-raise.
00:05:10
Speaker
I mean,
Pat Fitzgerald's Hiring Reactions
00:05:11
Speaker
we heard all about that. Clearly everybody that was saying he could fundraise was right. so So say what you want about J-Bat. He, I don't know if he got the right guy, but he got a guy that everyone would line up behind. So he got perfect alignment for the first time. It's like D'Antonio.
00:05:27
Speaker
And um he did the whole search in the shadows. It just did it. Like, it was a, I don't know if he got the right guy, but the search, the process to get to this point was very well done. Kept his cards close to his vest. There was no interference any nonsense that went around.
00:05:42
Speaker
like It was just really professional. No board of trustees bullshit yet, so you know bird we're doing great here. guess they need to approve the hire, but I wouldn't be too worried about that. think they did already. um and like so Everyone in administration is
Coaching Changes Rumors
00:06:00
Speaker
perfectly aligned behind this guy, which...
00:06:03
Speaker
It's both shocking, but also, like, kind of a sign of even if Fitzgerald's a bad coach and fails, like, there's going so much more money in the program, and this job's going to look so much better after if it doesn't work out either way. so like, good hire, I think.
00:06:19
Speaker
So I guess like, well, I guess we'll move on to the next point then um for those of us that those of you out there that only get your news from us. um Pat Fitzgerald has been hired as ah Michigan State's next head football coach.
00:06:33
Speaker
Um, If you were following our Twitter account um Sunday when the news was dropping, i apologize. i was the one writing it. i was about five or six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
00:06:51
Speaker
i was very drunk in London. um And I was raging because –
Fitzgerald's Recruiting Approach
00:07:00
Speaker
I'm a man of impulse ah and emotion. And when the news dropped, when I woke up, ah was was it when I woke up in the morning? don't remember, but I got a text in the morning from butt boy and it said, it's bits. I'm like, no fucking way.
00:07:17
Speaker
And then I go Facebook. the message boards and the internets. And then I see the, the news hit the Twitter that, uh, Jonathan Smith was fired. RIP to real one.
00:07:30
Speaker
Uh, and then immediately after that, within 10 minutes, everyone's like fits, fits, fits. I was like, fuck this, fuck this. And I was like texting everybody that I knew. i was like, all right, how do we get, uh, the board of trustees to fuck this up? I messaged some people that I knew that had some connections with the BOT. It's like,
00:07:47
Speaker
All right, how do we get them to botch this? Like, the fuck this shit. Like, they spent all of this time.
Impact on Recruiting without Restrictions
00:07:53
Speaker
Like, they they had all of this time, and this is the guy that they arrived on Like, a guy that didn't have a job, wasn't out of work, and all that stuff. So i was, like, raging. I also, like, posted on Shaw Lane on 24-7. And i had a post on there that received negative 70 down votes saying that we should fire J-Bat. It was day.
00:08:13
Speaker
it was ah it was a day I was on one. Um, and then i woke up the next day, flew back to America, whatever. Uh, and then, um, the press conference happened and then he came out for the basketball game against Iowa. And I started like, huh?
00:08:32
Speaker
All right. And then, all right. I'm, I'm, I'm seeing, but I don't know how I feel about this. It's kind of
Recruiting Staff Hires
00:08:38
Speaker
weird. It's kind of like, whatever. But like when he did the, uh, when he did the thing at the basketball game, I was like, all right I think he kind of gets it.
00:08:45
Speaker
And then when I see that he fucking kept the class together, he got a bunch of dudes to buy back in. And then the video of him talking to the team, i was like, all right, I'm going to give this a shot. I don't see negatives right now, but i'm I'm going to give this a shot. And mind you, the caveat here is,
00:09:04
Speaker
I thought Jonathan Smith was a great hire, and we'll see how that turned out. So I'm ready to eat shit. Like, I'm ready to eat. I want i want to be – I want – my opinion of Pat Fitzgerald on Sunday that I had on Sunday when I first heard the news, I want to be completely wrong. And it's entirely possible that it will be based on the trajectory of how things are going right now.
00:09:25
Speaker
For the first time in fucking a year, I've had excitement again about this football program. So anyways, that's my story. What about you guys? Yeah, at I was also... I don't think I was enough as upset as you about it, but I was not very happy.
00:09:47
Speaker
did say that I'd be willing to see who he hired when it it first happened. i Obviously, that's still pending. Oh, we have some good rumors about that one, and I can't wait to get that part for a second. But, i yeah, I
Fitzgerald's Performance Expectations
00:10:03
Speaker
mean, it's...
00:10:05
Speaker
and Everybody nationally, seemed for the most part, seems to think this is a good hire. So um I guess that's a positive. But to be fair, everybody last time thought the Smith hire was great, and me included. um And that was a disaster.
00:10:23
Speaker
but for the most part, I'm not i not against it. i just want i I'm in wait mode. say. So what I think I heard is that go MSU, but boy six and nine reported that Fitzgerald's higher too.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah. Before Hondo, before Hondo, I'm actually having the exact opposite reaction. i did with Smith Smith. I liked it at the, at the immediate second and kind of went backwards from there and then disliking it fits. I'm kind of like, I hate, I really hated it first and he's doing all the things that are going make me buy in.
00:10:57
Speaker
Yeah. And the more I hear about
Next Season Challenges
00:10:58
Speaker
it, the more, the more I like it. um he's already He's already calling them to school down the road. He's got the go-greens. He's fucking, like, wiling out at the basketball game.
00:11:10
Speaker
i just want to go on record and say, so I looked up the hazing details again, and it's a lot less rapey than i thought and a lot more funny than I thought.
00:11:20
Speaker
I mean, i mean the the the what the car wash? That's just good, clean fun. my
00:11:27
Speaker
Yeah, I just don't. but He got apparently i got a ton of money, apparently, from that settlement. And he released a statement on it. When you get Mel Tucker equivalent... What did they have? Like 85 players sign a petition to say shouldn't be fired or something like that?
00:11:45
Speaker
So Northwestern was fiscally motivated to basically find all the dirt they could on Right. And they couldn't find shit on him. He got like the Mel Tucker equivalent of a settlement there. Clean money. no no no Nothing we want don't want on there, but...
00:12:00
Speaker
um
00:12:02
Speaker
That's a cum joke. um consult accept So, like, based on that, I don't think Fitz knew, which kind of, in its own way, rubbed me the wrong way. No pun intended. Yeah.
00:12:20
Speaker
I feel like you've got to know what's going on in your locker room, but everything
Rumors on Jason Candle Joining
00:12:23
Speaker
he's done since then, it's been kind of just like he kind of understands what he's doing. Like, it feels like everything he's done since that point has been something that I would want him to do. Like, he seems like he's plugged in. He seems like he's keeping the recruits. He seems like everyone is aligned behind him.
00:12:43
Speaker
Again, no pun intended. um And it just seems like it's a hire that's been going the right direction.
00:12:53
Speaker
He's making smart hires as assistants. Like, everything is simply lining up well. But we haven't seen – I mean – We haven't seen any. We have not seen any of that. Well, okay. The rumors are smart. There's nothing stupid that I've seen so far. The rumor is, if true, I think would fucking – blow up the Detroit press. It would be awesome. um we're We're kind of alluding to it, and we'll probably integrate it here, but like ah for those not aware, one of the rumors is that Jason Candle will come to Michigan State, may come to Michigan State, but not as the head coach.
00:13:30
Speaker
Yeah, Bobby would need a fucking fat one. I would
Fitzgerald's Leadership Qualities
00:13:33
Speaker
have a lot of fun with some Michigan media slappies if that was the OCR. Yeah, it's like, all right, like imagine like a week ago, they're like, oh, shorty, the best you could do is Jason Candle because you're a fucking poverty program. A week later, we have a $400 million dollars donation from a guy that just likes the school and isn't trying to impress his 23-year-old girlfriend. And we have Jason Candle as an offensive coordinator candidate. As a fucking assistant.
00:13:59
Speaker
As a fucking assistant candidate. What happened to the Michigan fans that said that the only people that like MSU are the people that went there? you've got Walmart fan to donate $400 million dollars to us, suck my dick. Yeah, and not because not because of his fucking like underage girlfriend, but because like like he actually and likes the plays. And also his wife is kind of hot, but for age-appropriate hot...
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean... Like I said, I just want to see who he hires. It's as simple as that. The offensive coordinator hired me is like the most important thing. Cause he's not an offensive guy. here I mean, I trust him defensively to get the right guys.
00:14:43
Speaker
Yeah. The offensive coordinator hired me is like the biggest thing. He's got to hire me. I think I was, I was listening
Recruiting Competition Expectations
00:14:52
Speaker
to the, you are the program podcast. Um,
00:14:55
Speaker
The one by like Dante Rosano and ah Brian Lewerke and Tyler Higbee. They love him. they they They see D'Antonio in him the the one case also They also played against good Northwestern teams when they were out there. Yeah, that was the caveat.
00:15:10
Speaker
Actually, like yeah, Lewerke, I think, was like 1-3 against Northwestern. Yeah, shit, you're right. one in three against the northwester yeah shit you're right fuck Yeah, I think they only beat them in 2019. Yeah, but they were They were awful that year. I was at that game. yeah Remember, it's not a start. It's how you finish.
00:15:31
Speaker
Yeah. Mel Tucker. Anyways, yeah. Is that what you're saying? No, I mean, like everything he seems to be doing so far seems to be going the right way. Like he's making decisions that I approve of.
00:15:46
Speaker
like He kept Alessio. Alessio's back. are Also, I just want to put it out there. am so sorry to the Milimojavich family. Milimojavich.
00:15:57
Speaker
Milovojevic family, i got your ethnicity right, wrong. You are not Croats. You are Serbs. I apologize in immensely. ah
Illinois Connections and Staff Changes
00:16:07
Speaker
ah i I respect the Serb people and i will never call them Croats.
00:16:16
Speaker
You are my Serb king. um Yeah. ah Glad you're back. This is the first time I've ever thought a podcast I'm on it isn't white enough.
00:16:28
Speaker
But yeah, ah like it looks like Alessio's back, which is great. um i I don't know. I haven't seen anything from Jordan Hall. um I would like to have him back. Yeah, yeah I would want him to come back. The way leader the way I view it, the less news you see from anyone, the better it is at this point. yeah um For some reason, my vibe is that I don't think the exodus is going to be as big as it was after Mel Tucker.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yes, because... I don't think Jonathan Smith made like a, he had like a horrible culture. Yeah. I think it was a very transactional culture. was It was transactional and it was toxic.
00:17:08
Speaker
Yeah. And I think Smith brought in guys who actually kind of want to be here and play for him. and Yeah. staff yeah It all together too, at the end. No, I, I think that needs to mention too. A lot of respect for,
00:17:21
Speaker
old staff as human beings ah to continue to sell Michigan State to guys that were committed when they probably knew they were going to get fired. Yeah, like
Recruiting Strategy and General Manager Importance
00:17:32
Speaker
I see it like, I mean, Courtney Hawkins still doing go greens on all the commits. I think a Wozniak, I think. um i think you you guys I think those two guys are going to get retained. If I had to guess.
00:17:45
Speaker
Well, Wozniak's like a Midwest guy, right? And I think he's playing against Fitzgerald. Yeah, and he's played against Fitzgerald. So he probably wants to keep the job. right and he obviously a six kids He also has six kids and a newborn, so think he wants to move again. That is Midwest mindset. Six children he's my age.
00:18:04
Speaker
so that is that is like ah that is midwest midwest mindset like just six six children And
00:18:13
Speaker
and there's more uah mind shit mindset Oh, man. Also, like can this be can this program emphasize – speaking of Utah, yeah. Can this like program emphasize the the player dads, like put them at the forefront? like I want like i want a a Jeff Kohler, but for football.
00:18:30
Speaker
Brady Pretzelaf's dad's pretty good, and so is Braylon Collier. Those two guys, I like both of them. And then I think Alessio's dad is a football coach, too. Yeah, he's a yeah yeah hes he was he coached him and Zach Washington, who just signed today. the one thing actually Tuesday.
00:18:49
Speaker
The one thing I'm actually kind of curious to see, because I think we touched on this a minute ago, um i want to see you hire for GM. I feel like that's the
Aggressive Recruitment Plans
00:18:56
Speaker
biggest hire going forward for every program from this point. so so For this, maybe, i don't know, i think it's more OC.
00:19:04
Speaker
you're more than anything. other thing I've seen just get like talked about a lot about Fitzgerald is apparently a really high-level recruiter, and he seems to have done a good job with this current class in the two days he had them. mean, he kept almost everyone. Yeah.
00:19:21
Speaker
I'm actually curious to see how without the Northwestern academic standards now. And with the money cannon. Yeah, $100 million dollar money cannon. He already said that they're going to fruit Michigan hard.
00:19:33
Speaker
They're to be in schools like right now. i mean, Smith kind of said the same type of thing, but these guys, a lot of these high school coaches already know Pat Fitzgerald. They have a past relationship with And Fitzgerald doesn't have personality of mayonnaise, so, I mean, yeah hopefully he does a better job there.
00:19:50
Speaker
All respect to Smith. He did a good job at the end. no Yeah, I, like I said, I have respect for them as human beings. It was not a fit year, but at least they they did their jobs then. You can see
Transfer Portal Speculations
00:20:04
Speaker
can't say that about the old staff and some certain coaches that were actively recruiting it did you guys to leave.
00:20:10
Speaker
the other The other coach I want to see assistant coach-wise that I'm curious about is the O-line coach. He's gone. he is not gonna be back. Well, I don't mean i don't mean Coach M. I mean just like the next guy Fitzgerald hires because that's the position we haven't had a good one since I was in college.
00:20:27
Speaker
Does he he have a guy that he's worked with? A guy from UMass, but I don't know if I like that guy. Yeah. Bert Anderson or whatever his name is. don't like that.
00:20:42
Speaker
UMass just went 0-12. So... so Yeah. Not sure that would excite a lot of people. That's probably a more important hire than the D.C. at this point, honestly. it's just Yeah, I would agree.
00:20:57
Speaker
We got skill position talent all over. it's just Yeah, i I would like to see him retain Wozniak and Hawkins. Everybody else I don't really care about. Honestly, I'm fine with that portal too. It's not because he just wanted to high-five him.
00:21:17
Speaker
yeah Yeah. yeah it's It's because it's not because he left you hanging a weeks ago,
00:21:25
Speaker
but no, I, I, I, it'd be, I'd obviously you'd prefer he be on the team next year, but I don't want to overpay him and keep him. Yeah. And
Jonathan Smith's Tenure Reflection
00:21:36
Speaker
I mean, this in the most respectful way possible, but like we're starting over again. i kind of want guys who want to be here instead guys who want to play for, you know, a proven product with more money or whatever.
00:21:47
Speaker
it's going to take a minute and like it's going to need patience yeah i i want i want this become the era of the dads like we like this is this is the dad era like we're but um yeah i think like yeah i wonder like part of me wonders is like So he's only – there's no – with like him kind of knowing that he was going to get the offer, he didn't like start communicating with the recruits before Smith got fired. like he was It was just definitely in the past like two, three days, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Fitzgerald's Fresh Start at MSU
00:22:26
Speaker
Which, I mean, even if he did start communicating earlier, it's just that, again, J-Bat did a great job handling the search.
00:22:35
Speaker
ah The only problem – the only issue I had with the search – is that we didn't get to record. Yeah. but There's nothing to talk about because like he just left it at the very end. I mean, yeah, I guess, like, all right, yeah, and on your topic like about like yeah Smith, i'm like, yes, in the past few weeks, I got very vitriolic on Twitter about Jonathan Smith and how i and my lack of interest, my lack of desire for him to remain head football coach at Michigan State. So a lot of words were said about
00:23:08
Speaker
um him and uh i do i will take this opportunity to say i do think him and his staff were men of integrity ah i think they're them uh working like to the very last minute even the staff still like kind of like knowing that their jobs are gone well still getting the recruits signed for the next one for the next staff um Yeah, shout out to that. But good luck in whatever ah you do next. I'm just glad it's not here.
00:23:43
Speaker
Yep. Nothing personal. no Nothing i said um nothing i said was personal. it was all about coaching. don't have any qualms about him as a human being. I think next Pac-12 job it opens up is going to go after him hard, and I think he'd be pretty good there.
00:23:57
Speaker
um Yeah, do I think if think if he's he goes out west at smaller job, he will be very successful. Yeah, that or like ah just an NFL like OC job if they're interested. i don't know.
00:24:09
Speaker
He was a pretty good OC when he Washington.
High Expectations for Fitzgerald
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah. um I guess like – so, yeah, we talked about personnel. We're talking about like the people. So far, like no one and that's said they're going to the portal.
00:24:21
Speaker
So far, as someone I'm like, oh, shit. Because there's not really anyone on the team that I'm like, oh, shit. besides like the Marsh the big one, but the rest of them – Marsh is like technically the most – So, receiver, though.
00:24:33
Speaker
yeah Like I said, like go go get your bag. like yeah At this stage, we just need guys who want to be here. and yeah like i mean I'd be disappointed if Aiden West hits the portal, but I don't think he's going to.
00:24:48
Speaker
um i think, like you said, they did a pretty good job of recruiting guys that want to be here. Yeah. Which... um Yeah, anyways. um i ah i guess like then like we could talk I guess we can like then move i guess into expectations.
00:25:07
Speaker
like What do we want to
Season Performance & Player Development
00:25:09
Speaker
see to know that this is successful? Because we have the money cannon now. we have some Later in the tenure, I want to be making the playoff every other year. mar metal
00:25:21
Speaker
I mean, honestly, top 20 recruiting classes and playoffs every once every two or three years. Just give me And when you get to the playoffs, don't get flamed out first round. Start winning games. Make runs. Bowl game next year. I want 7-5.
00:25:34
Speaker
Next year, I think it's a wash, just regardless of what happens. We're in way too deep of a hole right now. I'm happy with 7-5. and be yeah
00:25:46
Speaker
having Having the money cannon helps. Next year's schedule isn't hard either. It's not that bad. And I know we did this exact same exercise on Jonathan Smith. We all agreed like eight, nine wins. But it wasn't – this year's schedule wasn't that hard. It really wasn't. In hindsight, it really wasn't. No. We played one good team, two teams, I think, finishing more than seven wins. And that was basically it.
00:26:10
Speaker
I think, like, a lot of people have been playing what ifs about, like, ah like what if, like, Alessio started earlier when we have won more games? I don't know. I don't i think we would have broken the kid.
Team Culture and Commitment
00:26:23
Speaker
I think we would have broken him. He's lucky he didn't die playing four games. I attribute exactly. I think this is similar to when in 2016, we started off with O'Connor and
00:26:40
Speaker
o'connor And then Damian Terry, like, everyone's favorite quarterback. And then, um and then later like, in the middle of the season, like, the offense started having a pulse when, like, Lewerke started starting. But then, I don't remember which game it was, but his leg exploded. the michigan know And the Michigan game, his leg exploded. and it's like it's, like, kind of like that. Like, clearly, like, there was a different guy. There was a guy on the roster that was going to be him.
00:27:08
Speaker
But it was too early. like, His leg exploded. Fortunately, the same did not happen to Alessio. I also want to say Aiden Childs, like, same thing as Nick Marsh. You did your job here. You're, like, appreciate everything you did. Just go get your bag now.
00:27:22
Speaker
Like, he's not, he's going to, no, he's going I think maybe a power team will take a chance on him, but like, maybe like a school like San Diego State or something. He winds up there.
Program Success Aspirations
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah. Just like, goes back homeling time you did your job. I appreciate it. Yeah. I don't think he's getting a bag.
00:27:37
Speaker
Well, whatever you can get at this point, because, like, his future isn't, like, again, appreciate everything today. His future's not at MSU. Alessio's better. No, he's not going to be back next year. I would be surprised if he is. um Regarding Alessio starting earlier, though, like, do you remember early on the year were just joking about how childs if Childs got hurt, we're fucked because Alessio only threw interceptions?
00:27:57
Speaker
Yes. Like, again, si say what you want about Smith. He did a really good job developing Alessio. Yeah. A lot better as the year went on. ah you went he's got He's got a Connor Cook look to him. Yeah, he went out and played.
00:28:16
Speaker
What's his face? Blake Washington, um Maryland quarterback. He went out played into a draw. like That's a good game. he's got a lot of ah He's got a lot of moxie doing, for sure.
00:28:27
Speaker
got talent. He's got some shit doing. Yeah, mean just see he'll be it's senior year. he'll be ah What was Connor Cook into at at like his senior year? Rick's?
00:28:38
Speaker
Was he a Harper's guy? or pretty give ever scott I think he was. But also, like, all right, here's an expectation. Yeah, I want a bowl game next year. I want to go to the playoff every other year at least. I want, like, I'm like, we have a money cannon now. We do not have an excuse. We don't have an excuse to, like, not pull, like, top 30, top 25 recruiting classes. And i think, like, Fitzgerald Fitz,
00:29:03
Speaker
Has like, is like, um doesn't have the shackles of academic requirements anymore, like you said. So
Midwest Recruitment Challenges
00:29:09
Speaker
I expect like recruiting to improve. but He's got, here's another thing that the to the recruiting aspect, I'd like to add, sorry to cut you off, but.
00:29:20
Speaker
That's right. He's, I mean, he's, a he's got the Illinois recruiting ties. Yeah, which is why he was able to keep Alessio. Right. Because I remember like when they fired Smith, Alessio's dad was like, I 1,000% disagree with this. And then they hired Fitz, and they're all right.
00:29:37
Speaker
What want to see on the recruiting trail from Fitz is um I want him to be the top. I want him to go head-to-head against Ohio State and Michigan, win his share, not all of them, maybe not even 50%, just win a couple of battles and pull out everyone – um who doesn't get an offer from there. So basically just go head-to-head every now and then with Ohio State-Michigan, win your battles, and then be the next team up when Ohio State-Michigan-Notre Dame aren't offering guys.
00:30:03
Speaker
Take the place of the Wisconsin, Minnesota, all those teams. Just go in fourth, fifth-best recruiting team in the Midwest. The D'Antonio special. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you just you I'm not saying going pull every four- five-star around the Midwest, but be your fair share dudes like D'Antonio did.
00:30:20
Speaker
Yeah, then go to Florida, get some guys from there California, Georgia.
00:30:26
Speaker
yeah. Ryan, what were you saying? and ah i can't even remember what I was going to say. ah But, I mean, it's it's simple. I mean,
Program Growth Expectations
00:30:37
Speaker
he he knows the area.
00:30:39
Speaker
He knows people. that's It's not going to be a problem like it was with Smith. Yeah. Former relationships. Yeah, I made decision a couple weeks ago I can't bitch about, or like a week ago where I can't bitch about this hire because um he's everything I wanted to for the Smith hire.
00:30:57
Speaker
The kind of high-risk hire award kind of guy. Oh, my God. So, there's, sorry to go on a tangent here, but that JMU-Troy game, I've got it on. The fans are throwing snowballs at the punter, at the Troy punter.
00:31:13
Speaker
He's throwing the balls. um Oh, one thing, one expectation i have is I don't want to see players. I don't want to hear about players posted on social media the night before of the game. They're at fucking Harper's. One, if you're going to to the bar before a game, don't go to fucking Harper's. And two, don't go to a fucking bar before the game. what the I really don't give a shit if they're going to Harper's if they're winning.
00:31:35
Speaker
Yes, exactly. You're you're not going to tell me that dudes weren't out partying. There were probably dudes out partying when they were winning, but the night before. Yeah, mean, one of the Rutgers got a fucking DUI like in 2010. Friday, yeah. Yeah, Friday before, don't know, Iowa. The Iowa game. Yeah, think it was before that. It didn't matter. Like, at the time of the news, I didn't care because we were winning. We lost the game, but it was like Iowa.
00:32:01
Speaker
The Chris L. Rutgers special. Yeah. I was like, but like, dude, you guys are losing you guys are losing. Don't go fucking out. Why are you partying? Like, whatever.
00:32:14
Speaker
I mean, anyways, I mean, yeah, that's I guess our ah yes sir expectations are there. i mean,
Coaching Search Review
00:32:23
Speaker
i think like I don't really have much else to say. i think I said most of it. I did want to kind of touch on this. and little side topic, now that we're watching the JMU game, but Chesney. Chesney.
00:32:37
Speaker
I know a lot of people wanted him, but like why does it seem like only UCLA is going to take the thing on take the chance on him? I think Penn State would have hired him if they – after missing out on – So, serious answer, I think we had a guy ahead of time, and i think Penn State ran the dumbest coaching search of all time. Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:01
Speaker
By the way, matt Campbell is official. Eight years. which is kindno Good for them, right? like You ran the dumbest social search of all time. and They backed into a solid hire.
00:33:12
Speaker
Right. How did we get our shit together? like Honestly, how did we of all people have our shit together? record the light last time we recorded, we were like, this is the worst place you could fucking be. What I've always said is, it doesn't matter how incompetent your school is, you're always one guy away from nailing it.
00:33:28
Speaker
And it's, it's same thing. Like, okay, we watched Dan Campbell, the lions, right? Yeah. Like you're always one guy away. It doesn't
Transition Challenges
00:33:36
Speaker
matter how incompetent you run, how bullshit everything, the operations around you just takes one guy to come in and straighten it all out.
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, that's true. but yeah. um
00:33:53
Speaker
God damn it, man. like i was Like, I just want to text my Penn State friend. I'm like, dude, you guys are... in you had How do they fuck it up? How do they fuck it up like this? aircraft so much and they actually Pat Craft was right about one thing. Michigan fucking cheated him.
00:34:13
Speaker
Absolutely. He ran the worst search of all the time and still landed it. Good for them. They're not on the schedule, so good for them.
00:34:25
Speaker
It's I am impressed that we just we look like we were just like we were getting fucking punched and punched and punched like we thought we're fucked with Jonathan Smith. We got the CMU news, the cheating allegation, the cheating shit, not the cheating shit, the recruiting violations and then the forfeiture of wins.
00:34:45
Speaker
i
Game Predictions for Fitzgerald's Season
00:34:46
Speaker
um I'm going to be honest. I think the recruit the forfeiture of wins and all that shit, I think that was premeditated. I think they're willing to sacrifice those seasons for... Yes, they did that because of Tucker.
00:34:56
Speaker
they wanted They wanted more reason to fire him with God. Yeah. Penn State almost had to hire him, so
00:35:05
Speaker
so... Does he... um Yeah. the yeah and I'll leave this for off-topic. Off, topic for ah I think. but Yeah. um Man, i don't know. I really got nothing else. i like like This wasn't really much of a search with any drama. like Smith was fired within two hours. We had a coach. like all right and that's like i mean like That's a pro, though. like We have an adult in the room handling this thing now perfectly. so like You guys wanted to schedule game at all or no?
00:35:35
Speaker
Go for it. okay um Toledo, home. When? Eastern Michigan. Yeah, because they they won they won't have a head coach because he'll be on the offensive coordinator. He'll be on the offensive coordinator. Oh, I just want to, like, go to everybody. Like, the best Michigan State to can do is as at head coach is Jason Candle. Like, don't know. Jason Candle did end up at Michigan
Recruiting Rivalries Discussion
00:35:59
Speaker
State, but as offensive coordinator.
00:36:02
Speaker
i mean I don't know. like All right. So Toledo. Here's the thing about Toledo. If this was like if this is like a Smith coach team, I yeah i think we'd lose because the team would the program would have zero juice. But now we have juice again. we have juice and their coach. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah exactly. all right. Let's do it.
00:36:23
Speaker
Eastern. When – Wait, wait, wait. Is Noah Kim going to – He's done. He's done. He's done. When? um At Notre Dame.
00:36:35
Speaker
L. At Michigan. Yeah, obviously L. Well, unless we hire their defense. By the way, these games are not in order after – Yeah, the Big Ten schedule is not out yet. I just want to preface that.
00:36:47
Speaker
ah At Michigan. L. Yeah, I'm going to lean L on the last two. Well, yeah, I'm going to lean L. I'm not going to say it's for-sure loss, but yes, I'll lean L on it.
00:37:00
Speaker
I mean, also, I can't wait until, like, ah December or January 1st rolls around and then you get that on three Hayes Fawcett tweet saying that ah Underwood has hit the portal. Yeah.
00:37:14
Speaker
but Would not be shocking. The Eastside Undertaker? The Alpha and the Omega? Yeah. Yeah, under what Underwood and Nick Marsh link up to go to LSU. Can you imagine? Yeah.
00:37:28
Speaker
Who did they end
Game Strategy and Predictions
00:37:29
Speaker
up with? Oh, yeah, Kiffin. that deb be yeah yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah, I would love to see Underwood passing to Nick Marsh and to Lane Kiffin offense. That would hilarious. That would be so much fun. um Illinois home.
00:37:43
Speaker
Oh. I'm leaning L on that right now. Yeah, I'll probably lean L on that. We don't know what these rosters are going to look like. That's also caveat. Yeah, lean L. So two and three so far. Three and three. Three and three.
00:37:59
Speaker
No, you're right, two and three. two and Yeah, Nebraska home, three and three. ah they're gonna win a bra they will win They will win the Nebraska game. Penn State fucking ruined Nebraska's program. Oh, my God.
00:38:10
Speaker
Matt Rule sucks. Okay, so they ran the rumor they wanted to rule. ah Nebraska basically gives them contract for like $90 million, dollars something like 90% guaranteed.
00:38:21
Speaker
they sign Nebraska signed the same number of four stars as coachless Penn State. this like Dude. Seven and five. Blown out in Happy Valley this year. What a fucking home run by Nebraska. Well done, guys. I think Rial is to hit the portal, too.
00:38:34
Speaker
yeahre They're to have to fire his fucking uncle this year. Their O-line is terrible.
00:38:41
Speaker
um Northwestern. We're um Northwestern home. win W. W. but yeah oh He's going to run up the fucking score. because He's going to run up. like Fitz will run up the score. He's probably going to raid that staff too.
00:38:59
Speaker
hope he doesn't. I hope he does not. i do not want to raid that staff. If there's one game I'm super comfortable about, that's that game. Yeah, he's going to run up the score. He'll win that
Team Improvements and Competitiveness
00:39:09
Speaker
game. he's Yeah, he will he will like he'll have Alessio throwing touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. Not because we need to, but because he wants to he wants a 70-burger.
00:39:20
Speaker
He wants to do to them what Notre Dame did to Syracuse. He wants to get them on the field like he did in the quarter. He wants to score a point for every dollar in the settlement.
00:39:31
Speaker
Yeah. Home Oregon's the other one. L. L. So now we're 4-4. We're 4-4. Home Washington. W. um Depends on who they return, but I'm going to lean out on that.
00:39:45
Speaker
It depends where in the year that is, honestly. If it's later in the year, I think we win that game. If it's earlier in the year, I'm a little worried. I think if it's later in the year, it's going to be like, if Fitz is who he is and is able to build a roster, that will be the game that we're not supposed to win, but we win. Yeah, go back to expectations. um That's one thing I want to see. I want to see us get better as the year goes on. Oh, yeah. i want so Exactly. i want to be i want to know that if we're down seven, we can win the game, which was not something that happened in the John Smith era. at smith era Because I remember i went back and looked at this. I think we were only ever down – only in one game were we ever down by seven points.
00:40:27
Speaker
ah and we came back and won, and that's Maryland. But every other game, any any deficit higher than seven, we always lost that game. I think we only beat two teams were down by at halftime, right? It was Maryland and BC. College, yeah. think you're right. Yeah.
00:40:42
Speaker
Yeah. I wanted to second half improvements, and i but what I really want to see is back after the year, the down-to-down competency is there. We saw it at the start of the Smith tenure, and then it kind just went away randomly after the Michigan game last year, but, like,
00:40:56
Speaker
that's what i I want to see that and maintain. I want
Overcoming Team Challenges
00:40:59
Speaker
to see week over week improvement. The Michigan game, I think, last year broke his program. Broke his tenure. I agree with that. We were flying high after Iowa because that was the perfect game for him. and Then after they lost to Michigan, it's like, what?
00:41:14
Speaker
yeah The wheels kind of came off after that. The Indiana game, actually. really They're up 10-0 in that What game? yeah ah right so what are we at what what gave Washington? so Depending on where it's at, we like it's more of a dependent where it's at.
00:41:30
Speaker
Yeah. um At Rutgers, I think we win that. Win. At UCLA. Win. Revenge game, win. um I want a lean win, but it depends how much Chesney can bring over from JMU, honestly.
00:41:45
Speaker
Did UCLA sign Chesney? It's not an official contract yet. We'll see. if i think they're waiting to see if they win tonight or not. do They need to play off.
00:41:56
Speaker
I think we're at 5-6 or 6-5 right now. And then at Wisconsin is the other one. Win. Win. I'm going to win. think Pickles has been gone. It's at the end of the year, Pickles is done. Yeah. Because we, like, Mel Tucker won at Wisconsin.
00:42:12
Speaker
No, he didn't. what i Where was that here? won at Illinois. Oh, yeah. And then, yeah, Wisconsin came here. yeah And then by that point, they were already in terms. Oh, going to Wisconsin to play against interim coach Mike. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:34
Speaker
a on that yeah Wow. All right. So I think six and six is doable with that schedule, though. Yeah. i think like I think the toss-ups are like Washington U-Dub.
00:42:46
Speaker
I think we'll lose – Yeah, both U-Dubs. I think, like, no, I think we'll beat Wisconsin. I think the toss-up is with Washington. i would love for Mavs to come to East Lansing again, and this time we actually win. So that way I can show what, like, going to Ricks is, like, after a W. So
Program Identity Development
00:43:05
Speaker
here's the thing. if its just If Fitz does his job right, all of a sudden, like, games, like, with Michigan, Illinois, and, like, Oregon are gettable.
00:43:13
Speaker
Oregon's not doable. They're not beating Oregon. If he does his job right, that's a game we have a puncher's chance in. I wouldn't say we're favored or even remotely close favored, but that's a game. like You see Iowa do it every year where they rise up and just beat someone random.
00:43:27
Speaker
but That could be a game that we could do that too. Well, I think I think we said 6-6, but this could be a 7-5 schedule, like a D'Antonio first year, where it's like, ah we lost to Michigan, we lost to Ohio State, we lost at Wisconsin that year, but then in the at the the game at the end of the year that like really set the the set the tone for the D'Antonio program is beating Penn State, final game of the year,
00:43:58
Speaker
And then, but coming and then doing it like coming back from being down. Like I remember being at that game in the student section. I was a junior at State. And I remember stayed to the very end because, like, most of the student section emptied out, like, by the middle of the third quarter because we were getting our asses kicked. And then, like, 24 to 7 or some shit. Yeah. Yeah. And then everyone's like, ah, fuck this shit. I got better shit to do. And then we came back and won.
00:44:23
Speaker
And that was that that was, like, that was the Danton. That was the beginning of it. Because he had, it's like, there was a fake punt. There was, like, just, yeah, it was, like, great shit. And, like, I think – The toss-up game is where we'll see what the Fitz era is going to be like. Back after the season. Back after the toss-up games. We didn't
Season Outlook and Coaching Impact
00:44:44
Speaker
win any toss-up games with Jonathan Smith. We didn't grind out a win. What do you mean, man? That was 11 BC. We ground out a few.
00:44:53
Speaker
Yeah. We ground that out. Double overtime. Great. Yeah. But... Yeah, I mean... i Yeah.
00:45:04
Speaker
Now going back to that D'Antoni point though, the way he finished his first year, beating Penn State and almost beating like a top 10 BC team, the bowl game, something like that. That's what I'm wanting to see this year.
00:45:15
Speaker
And, and then Brian Hoyer ends up getting the last laugh because his career outlasted Matt Ryan's. Isn't that crazy? That is wild. oh What if I told you this bald guy ah who graduated when I did was playing in the NFL up until like two years ago?
00:45:34
Speaker
Is he still in the league? No, he's not playing anymore. Troy almost almost scored. He did just score. Yeah, anyways, like like our last episode, like we were all fucking doomers, and this episode, we're on a high note. like It feels good. And then like, in fair tomorrow we got... I am someone who, if you hired an MSU Twitter shit poster, you could probably find a way to get me out war. So...
00:46:02
Speaker
I'm not one of those people and I'm still kind of starting to get on board. So, I mean, like they're doing a good, they're doing a good job. I think like everything fits the dunces he got over here. He's been kind of walking the walk.
00:46:14
Speaker
Like we know he's been saying shit like on game day and stuff about how he's learned all this stuff, but everything since he's gone, he's kind of been starting to walk the walk a little bit too. And that that's exciting to see.
00:46:26
Speaker
Yeah. I'm about to watch this video of his like talk to the team. um
Basketball Game Preview vs Duke
00:46:31
Speaker
they Actually, the football account posted it. It's like a minute and 20 minutes long. So I might get fired up with that.
00:46:39
Speaker
um Yeah, dude, that polo looks nice on him. um I'm ready. um I want to see how this goes. I want to see how this goes. But if you guys do have any – Jump into the Red Cedar next year if we get to seven wins.
00:47:03
Speaker
Make sure to get the shots. All right, everybody. We have a big game tomorrow against Duke. um Get your buttholes prepared for that. ah Honestly, honestly i think we're going to beat them.
00:47:18
Speaker
I feel it. They should. This team's too fucking good. seeing Kentucky get absolutely shit kicked right now is not very encouraging.
00:47:29
Speaker
But Arkansas beat someone pretty good like yesterday, I think, didn't they? Yeah, they beat Louisville. Kentucky might suck, though. They might be ah absolute ass. They're down by 23 at halftime again.
00:47:40
Speaker
UNC beat Kansas, didn't they? They beat Kentucky and Kansas. This is a really good basketball team. No, they're good. It feels like we're a year early, too. That's the fun thing.
00:47:55
Speaker
don't know. i i I expected them to be pretty good again. I didn't think they'd be this good, but I did expect them to be pretty good again. By the way, any anyone who problem with naming football buildings that are Tom Izzo, this is Greg Williams donation is why it's okay.
00:48:09
Speaker
Tom Izzo the greatest thing to ever happen at Michigan State University. Correct. yeah Other than me, but. Yeah. But anyways, yeah. So, fuck Duke. Go green. um
Wrap-up & Future Episodes
00:48:22
Speaker
We'll probably have another episode when the staff is rounded out. um But until then, ah oh an uneventful search, but ah we'll see you soon, hopefully, or not hopefully.
00:48:41
Speaker
I don't know. All right. ah Go green.