Pat Fitzgerald opens Michigan State camp with a message on rules vs. standards every coach should hear

Pat Fitzgerald walked back onto a fall training camp practice field for the first time in three years this week, and he did not waste the moment.

As Michigan State opened fall camp Thursday, Fitzgerald gathered his team, pointed to a wall of goals, and shared a line immediately began to make the rounds in coaching circles.

"There's a difference between rules and standards," Fitzgerald told the group of staff and players. "Rules are for people who can't follow directions. Standards are for people who aspire to do special things."

He kept going.

"That's why we've held you to a higher standard in everything we've done since we've got here. Now it's time for you to take it over. Quit kinda dancing with it."

"It's time to go guys. It is time to go. If you don't feel that, and you don't want that, and you're not willing to sacrifice to do something special for the guy to your right and left - don't show up tomorrow morning."

It is the kind of message that plays whether you are coaching in the Big Ten or running a Tuesday walk-through at the high school level. Rules keep people in line. Standards are what people chase on their own. Fitzgerald is betting that the difference is what turns a 4-8 team into a competitive one.

That was Michigan State's record last fall under Jonathan Smith, 4-8 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten in his second season. The Spartans found some late life behind quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, pushing into fourth-quarter leads in three of their final four games, but the record cost Smith his job. Michigan State fired him on November 30th and moved quickly, hiring Fitzgerald on December 2nd, inking him to a five-year deal.

For Fitzgerald, this is the first head coaching job since Northwestern parted ways with him in 2023 amid a hazing scandal. He had been out of coaching for two seasons before Michigan State called. Before the exit, he won 110 games across 17 seasons in Evanston, took the Wildcats to five bowl wins, and built a program that punched above its recruiting rankings almost every year. He knows what it takes to win in this league without the top of the class.

He kept much of the structure in place too, retaining defensive coordinator Joe Rossi - a veteran defensive play caller he has admitted a number of times to wanting to hire when he had an opening in Evanston, but couldn't afford him - and also brought in Nick Sheridan from Alabama to run the offense.

Fitzgerald has not been quiet about expectations. At Big Ten Media Days, he said the Spartans did not have a chip on their shoulder, they had the whole bag. The five goals he pointed to Thursday ran from a Big Ten title up to a national championship.

Michigan State opens September 4 against Toledo, Fitzgerald's first game as a Spartan.

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