UPDATE, 3:55 p.m.: Michigan State plans to hire Pat Fitzgerald as its next head football coach. Here's more from Chris Solari and Graham Couch .

Who will J Batt target as Michigan State football ’s next coach? And does the first-year athletic director already have someone lined up?

It’s hard to say, particularly with limited knowledge of how Batt, the former Georgia Tech boss, envisions the future for the Spartans amid the changing landscape of the sport. And not knowing just how much MSU might want – or be able – to spend while paying Jonathan Smith his buyout after he was fired Sunday, Nov. 30 , following less than two seasons in East Lansing. Or how important it is to Batt to make a hire that already knows and understands his new school and its rivalries.

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