Fitzgerald preaches process over hype as Michigan State braces for top-five trip to Notre Dame

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Asked Monday whether Saturday’s matchup at Notre Dame serves as a measuring stick for his Michigan State program, first-year Spartans coach Pat Fitzgerald pushed back on the premise entirely.

“Can you define what that means?” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t know what that means.”

Instead of framing the 7:30 p.m. NBC broadcast against the third-ranked Fighting Irish (2-0) as a statement game, Fitzgerald steered attention toward the mundane: a Tuesday practice he wants executed at a high standard. The 2-0 Spartans open Big Ten play the following week, and their coach insisted the foundation for conference contention is laid in weekday preparation, not in the result of any single nonconference clash.

“I want to see us have a really frickin’ good Tuesday practice,” he said.

Fitzgerald acknowledged he was displeased with how certain drills ran the previous week, saying he addressed practice habits with players more forcefully than any individual play. His philosophy, he said, is that preparation creates opportunity — and that performance at the highest level is impossible without it.

Areas of concern after a 35-7 win

Even after a lopsided 35-7 victory over Eastern Michigan that moved Michigan State to 2-0, Fitzgerald catalogued shortcomings. He described the special teams units as “a work in progress” that remain “not there yet fundamentally.” He also flagged “extracurricular nonsense” after plays that risks turning into penalties against a disciplined opponent.

In a scheduling tweak, Fitzgerald moved his developmental scrimmage for younger players from late in the week to Monday morning — a “front-loading” approach he said gives his staff a better read on roughly 80 of the 105 players on the roster before the team turns its focus to South Bend.

The stakes of the trip are considerable. Notre Dame reached the College Football Playoff title game two seasons ago, and the Big Ten has produced the last three national champions — the level Fitzgerald has been brought in to restore in East Lansing.

The game will air nationally on NBC, a network within the Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) portfolio. Comcast shares traded at $24.88 on Monday, down 1.11% from a prior close of $25.16, valuing the media and telecom company at roughly $92.5 billion. Big Ten football rights have been a marquee asset in the network’s sports programming lineup.

What to watch

• How Michigan State’s special teams and post-whistle discipline hold up against a top-five opponent on the road.
• Whether Fitzgerald’s adjusted weekly schedule — earlier scrimmages and an emphasis on Tuesday practices — carries into Big Ten play beginning next week.
• Upcoming network viewership figures on NBC as the Big Ten season progresses, a metric relevant to Comcast’s media segment reporting.

Source: original release