Oct 29, 2022; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats team before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Less than two hours after it was reported Michigan State was firing football coach Jonathan Smith after just two seasons, it appears the Spartans have already found their man.

Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald will get his chance to return to coaching, back in the Big Ten in East Lansing.

People with knowledge of the situation who couldn't speak publicly confirmed to the USA TODAY, Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal, Fitzgerald is the pick. A contract had not yet been signed as of midday Sunday, Nov. 30.

Fitzgerald, who turns 51 on Tuesday, went 110-101 over 17 seasons with his alma mater from 2006-22, the entirety of his head coaching career and the Wildcats' longest-tenured coach in school history. The Midlothian, Illinois, native was an All-Big linebacker for Northwestern from 1993-96 and was a consensus All-American, won the Big Ten defensive player of the year and was the national winner of both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award in both the 1995 and 1996. He received the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1997.

As a coach, Fitzgerald won the Big Ten West title in 2018 and was named Big Ten coach of the year, and he won a second West division title in 2020 and earned the national Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

The hire doesn’t come without concerns.

Northwestern fired Fitzgerald in July 2023 due to a hazing scandal the school said “included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.” Fitzgerald, who reportedly was owed $68 million from the private school on his contract that ran through 2031, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in October 2023 for $130 million.

Fitzgerald reached a settlement in his wrongful-termination lawsuit against Northwestern and was back on the market as an established winner with extensive Big Ten experience. On paper, this looks like a perfect fit. Fitzgerald would need to show a plan on offense and for how he’s going to adapt to the NIL-driven landscape that has exploded during his three years off the sidelines. But a search that ends with him returning to the Big Ten would be a coup for the Spartans.

The Spartans program isn't without its own issues. MSU was hit with NCAA sanctions earlier this fall that occurred in 2022-23 under Mel Tucker, who received a three-year show-cause penalty for failing to monitor the program and two staff members who also received show-cause penalties. The NCAA said Tucker was not involved with providing improper benefits of around $11,000 to three players and six recruits, however, in its negotiated settlement with MSU.

Fitzgerald, who has been out of college coaching for three seasons, was 5-9 against the Spartans during his tenure at Northwestern. The Wildcats were 4-20 in his final two seasons, which included MSU’s season-opening win under Tucker in 2021 in Evanston, Illinois.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pat Fitzgerald in, Jonathan Smith out for Michigan State football

Reporting by Matthew Glenesk and Chris Solari, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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