"I do think it was a bit soon because he's only been here for two seasons, but we also could have won that Michigan game if different decisions were made, and other games as well," Kukla said. "I'm kind of glad he's gone, but also he might have just needed a couple of years to grow with the team."

Kukla said he’s excited for Fitzgerald’s run as the Spartans’ football coach, noting his accomplishments during his 17-year tenure with Northwestern University.

"Northwestern hasn't always been the best team ever," Kukla said. "They're a decent team, so getting a coach that was at least good, has a good foundation, is exciting."

One of the errors and woes Kukla believes Fitzgerald should tackle for next season is the utilization of the Spartans’ special field teams.

"I feel like we go for it on fourth down way too much instead of trying to go for field goals," Kukla said. "When we're clearly in field goal range and we just go for it on fourth down and when we just fail that, it kind of demoralizes not only the fans but the teams to like fill another fourth down when we at least could have got some points on the board."

For supply chain management sophomore Rohan Jain, he stated that Smith felt "very uncommitted to the players."

"As a big football fan — especially a big NFL fan — being from Illinois and seeing the Bears as well as paying attention to franchises like the Patriots, who have been dominating sports, it's easy to tell between a good coach and a bad coach — and Jonathan Smith fits in the bad coach category."

Though he’s optimistic about Fitzgerald’s hire, Jain said he will need to see some work from the new coach to be sold on the hire.

"My friend was telling me that with Northwestern, he was doing a lot with limited resources and funding," Jain said. "So in that sense, I think that's a strong hire, but personally, I'm not going to pay attention to what's going on. I need to see the results, like wins."

One thing Jain would like to see Fitzgerald incorporate within the program is working towards an appearance in a bowl game and beating in-state rival Michigan, both of which have not happened since 2021.

"We had a really talented receiver, Nick Marsh, but I didn't feel like we threw him the ball as much as we could have," Jain said. "Another thing I want to see is for us to beat Michigan, and then I want us to make the college football playoffs (CFP) in the next two years."

On that point, Jain hopes that the Spartan football team becomes energized to win more games and to improve its season-by-season record.

"Next season I think that I would love to see a winning record," Jain said. "I want our coach to be really committed to our players. Even if it doesn't mean making the CFP in the first year, as long as our players are committed and we're getting a lot more wins than we were, I think that's pretty impressive."

Supply chain management freshman Caiden Waite said the Spartans’ last two seasons have been "devastating," adding that it was necessary to make the coaching change after a disappointing season.

"I think he's a good guy, but I don't think it's his personality you want as your head coach," Waite said. "He doesn't have much fire to him. He rebuilt the Oregon State program while he was there, which I think was why MSU was attracted to him. Then he came here, just got his first win in the Big Ten this past game to end the season, and it just wasn't very good overall."

Waite said that with Fitzgerald’s deep connection to the Big Ten, he believes it will make him a good coach at MSU.

"I think it's a great hire," Waite said. "He's been around the Big Ten for a long time now and he has good connections within the Midwest for recruiting with high school coaches because he was at Northwestern for so long. It's a completely different personality from him. He's hard-nosed and he'll make sure his players will work for it."

Waite said one of the things he hopes Fitzgerald improves on during his debut season is recruitment and the utilization of NIL funds and the recently announced "FOR SPARTA" fundraising campaign to attract players to East Lansing.

"Recruiting is going to be the big thing through the entrance of NIL," Waite said. "We've already lost Nick Marsh, which kind of sucks because he's one of the best right receivers in the country, so that part stings." "I think being able to bring in the NIL aspect a little more but also just show the grit that this is the football program it used to be and that window is still open to go back out there and hopefully win the Big Ten or something."

Waite said one of the things that he hopes happens next season is the resurgence of a winning season and a chance to make an appearance in a bowl game.

"I think you're going to go through trials and tribulations, especially in this landscape of college football now, but I think realistically just getting back into the bowl game aspect of the season and playoffs will be farther down the road," Waite said. "You don't really expect to be there within the next one to two years, but I think just getting to a bowl game so those players can get the experience under their belt will really help out this team and other teams to come."