At the moment, he said there is no major donor support for the contract or the buyout of fired football coach Jonathan Smith. But, a newly announced sports-focused fundraising effort could help offset the costs, he said.

Asked about the sexualized hazing scandal that prompted Fitzgerald’s firing from Northwestern two years ago, Guskiewicz said MSU has done its "due diligence" and that he is "comfortable that we’re getting a person of high integrity."

"I think we’ve landed a great coach, in what I will say is a very fair deal for all involved," Guskiewicz said. Fitzgerald is "ready to prove who he is and who he’s about."

Contract is 'real close'

MSU and Fitzgerald have agreed on a term sheet, "but the final details of the contract, the long form of the contract, is still being worked out," Guskiewicz said.

It will be a five-year deal, he added, but declined to share any further terms. 

"I’m comfortable with where they’ve landed, that’s the extent of what I want to say," Guskiewicz said. "I think we’re real close."

The contract will be voted on by MSU’s Board of Trustees at their meeting next Friday.

One term that Guskiewicz said he insisted on was that MSU doesn’t have to pay out the remainder of a new coach’s last contract.

That’s guaranteed with Fitzgerald because he was fired by Northwestern in 2023 and recently settled a lawsuit with the school over the termination of his contract.

Other recent coaching hirings did not result in such favorable terms. Louisiana State University, for example, agreed over the weekend to pay their newly hired coach Lane Kiffin’s buyout for leaving his old job at Ole Miss.

"I guarantee to you that LSU, in addition to paying him a huge salary, they’ll be paying Ole Miss something," Guskiewicz said, explaining that, by contrast, he insisted "We will not pay a buyout for a new coach to come here."

MSU will have to pay an over $33 million buyout to Smith to prematurely terminate his seven-year contract. But, Guskiewicz said onlookers shouldn’t get sticker-shock.

"I think people get caught up seeing the big number of what’s remaining on a contract," he said. Smith’s buyout, though, will be paid over time, and could be offset if he finds a new job elsewhere. So, Guskewicz said, "It’s not as if there’s a check being paid out tomorrow."

MSU is also embroiled in litigation with its previous coach, Mel Tucker, and the anti-rape advocate he was found by MSU to have sexually harassed while she was working with his team. Both are seeking tens of millions in damages from the university.

This all comes as Guskiewicz has tasked his new athletic director with balancing the department's budget. It has operated for years in a deficit, as it contends with college sports' rapidly changing financial landscape.

Amid the coaching shifts and financial strain, MSU football has struggled on the field. Over the past four seasons, the team has gone 18–30 overall and 9–27 in Big Ten play, with no bowl appearances. It’s coming off a 4–8 season, one in which the Spartans lost eight straight games.

The program is also on a three-year probationary period after an NCAA investigation found recruiting violations. As part of its sanctions, the NCAA imposed on MSU a financial penalty, subjected the program to closer monitoring of its recruiting practices, and vacated all of its wins from the 2022-2024 seasons.

Donor support 'yet to be determined'

At the moment, no individual donors have stepped forward to help pay for Smith’s buyout or Fitzgerald’s contract, Guskewicz said.

In the past, donor support has helped MSU finance pricey coaching moves. Former coach Mel Tucker’s record-setting contract, for example, was funded in part by large gifts from wealthy alums Mat Ishbia and Steve St. Andre, who contributed $24 million of the $95 deal.

While "no one single large gift is going to cover it," Guskiewicz said that funds raised in MSU’s freshly announced "FOR SPARTA" capital campaign could be used to cover some of those costs.

The fundraising push — which has already reportedly raised $250 million of its $1 billion goal — will go toward upgrading athletics facilities, including Spartan Stadium, according to the release announcing the campaign. Guskiewicz, though, said the donations will bolster a discretionary fund that the athletic director can use to support "just about anything (he) thinks is a priority."

"It very well could come from some of that fund," Guskiewicz said of Smith's buyout and Fitzgerald's contract.

The hiring of Fitzgerald could itself help with fundraising, according to Guskiewicz. 

"One of the factors that was important to me, I will say, is that (Fitzgerald) is known as an excellent fundraiser," he said. "He’s got a proven track record with how he worked with the donor base at Northwestern and we’re very optimistic that he’ll do the same here."

Fitzgerald 'learned from past experiences' with hazing scandal

Fitzgerald was fired from Northwestern after the student newspaper reported on allegations that widespread hazing — including coerced sexual acts — had been occurring amongst his teams for years. 

Guskiewicz said that MSU closely examined that saga and is happy with Fitzgerald’s explanation of the situation: that he was unaware of the hazing and would have stopped it if he could.

"I am very comfortable that we’re getting a person of high integrity and character that’s going to recruit and coach players with those high standards at the forefront," he said.

"We all learn from past experiences," Guskiewicz said. Fitzgerald, he added, has done so in his years away from football.

Fitzgerald is like "any coach that’s had a great run, and taken some time off to reflect on the great things he did, and the things he may have done differently," Guskewicz said. That reflection will allow him to come to MSU "ready to roll his sleeves up and go."

That will mean "success on the playing field," Guskiewicz said, but also, "I know from many people I’ve talked to about him, (Fitzgerald) builds character on his team."

"We’ll take that as a responsibility that he has — and he’ll deliver on it," Guskiewicz said.

Fitzgerald has spoken sparsely since his firing. In his one major public appearance — an interview last month on ESPN’s College Gameday podcast — he said he is planning on "bringing some things that are proprietary to my next stop" to prevent hazing.

The coach plans to be "relentless in making sure our guys are about the right things and doing the right things," he said, by educating players on "all the social issues that are out there," such as "date rape."

The hazing allegations were examined by an independent investigation ordered by Northwestern, and then in civil lawsuits against the school brought by former players and Fitzgerald.

Those processes found widespread evidence of years of severe hazing on Fitzgerald’s teams, but no evidence that Fitzgerald had direct knowledge of what was occurring. The school’s probe did conclude that coaching staff had "significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing conduct."

Other allegations were reported in the press but not litigated to the same extent. In July 2023, the Daily Northwestern reported that there was widespread racism in Fitzgerald’s football program. Players of color were told to cut long hair to fit in with Fitzgerald’s so-called "Wildcat Way," and assistant coaches reportedly made racist remarks to players, according to the student news outlet.

Northwestern eventually agreed to undisclosed settlements with both the former players and Fitzgerald. Afterwards, the university’s president released a statement saying the lawsuits uncovered no evidence that Fitzgerald "condoned or directed any hazing." Fitzgerald said the settlement left him feeling "vindicated."

Amid his termination in the summer of 2023, Northwestern’s president spoke harshly of Fitzgerald, saying the culture of the football program was "broken" and the coach’s firing was a way for the university to "live by our values."

"The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team," then-president Michael Schill said in a statement at the time. "The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening."

After the settlement was reached last summer, Schill struck a different tone. In a statement about the deal, he said that "Northwestern appreciates Coach Fitzgerald’s 26 years as a Northwestern player and coach."

"Northwestern is proud of Coach Fitzgerald's team's success on the field as well as its success in the classroom," the statement said. "Northwestern wishes Coach Fitzgerald the best in resuming his football career."

Guskiewicz said that MSU considered both the hazing allegations and claims of racism when deciding to hire Fitzgerald, and that he is "very comfortable with the due diligence that was done in this hiring."

"We have done due diligence," he said. "Trust me."

The effort was apparently led by Athletic Director J Batt, according to Guskiewicz. 

Before coming to MSU, Batt worked at "other really good places," Guskiewicz said, before listing his previous roles at Georgia Tech and the University of Alabama, among others.

"He interfaced with a lot of people at each of those stops," he said. So, when considering Fitzgerald, Batt tapped his network: "he knows a lot of people, makes a lot of phone calls, talks to lots of people."

Through those conversations, Batt and Guskiewicz decided that Fitzgerald was a good choice for MSU. That "due diligence began weeks ago," Guskiewicz said, though he insisted that the ultimate decision to fire and replace Smith was only made this weekend.

"We had a lot of people reaching out with names," he said. "This wasn’t the only name that was considered."

Those who reached out and were consulted on the hire included "alumni that are best friends with former players at Northwestern," according to Guskiewicz.

"We did extensive due diligence on this with employees, former employees, players, former players," Guskiewicz said. "We are very comfortable."