Michigan's Whittingham, Michigan State's Fitzgerald have similar missions in a bitter rivalry

CHICAGO (AP) — Pat Fitzgerald fought his way back to coaching in the Big Ten. Kyle Whittingham practically fell into it after 21 years at Utah. Now, they share similar missions in one of the fiercest rivalries in college sports.

Fitzgerald is Michigan State's fourth coach in seven years, the latest in the Spartans' search for a successor to Mark Dantonio, who delivered a CFP semifinal appearance in 2015 and a winning record against Michigan. The Wolverines, meanwhile, turned to Whittingham after Sherrone Moore was fired over an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

They arrive with the goal of restoring two wayward programs to heights from which neither is far removed, both as outsiders opening new chapters of their careers. For someone who spent as much time at one school as Whittingham, it's a new experience to enter to the sounds of “Hail to the Victors,” as he did at Big Ten media days on Thursday.

“I know the words to that song, by the way,” Whittingham said. “I’ve got it down.”

After getting fired at Northwestern over a hazing scandal, suing, and agreeing to a settlement that cleared him of wrongdoing, Fitzgerald is eager for redemption.

“I wouldn’t say I have a chip on my shoulder. I wouldn’t say our program has a chip on our shoulder,” Fitzgerald said Wednesday. “I’d say we have a bag of chips on our shoulder. I’ll leave it at that.”

After capturing the 2023 national title under Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines went 17-8 in two seasons under Moore, finishing seventh and fourth in the Big Ten after winning 25 straight conference games and three straight conference titles. Michigan State has struggled to four straight sub-.500 seasons and four straight losses to Michigan since an 11-2 season in 2021 that ended with a Peach Bowl win and top-10 final ranking.

That's just the upheaval on the field.

Even before Harbaugh left for the NFL in 2023, Michigan faced $20 million in fines over a spying scandal as well as NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations. Moore was fired in December after it was discovered he was having an affair with his former executive assistant.

Earlier this month, the university announced athletic director Warde Manuel will step down at the end of the year after an investigation raised issues with his oversight of the athletic department at large and the football program in particular.

Whittingham, 66, went 177-88 at Utah, shepherding the Utes from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 to the Big 12. He walked away in December after being unable to agree on a new contract, only to resurface two weeks later in Ann Arbor — exactly the kind of veteran coach the Wolverines were looking for to reset a program gone awry.

“It’s reality,” Whittingham said. “There has been a lot of drama. We hope that we’ve come to the end of that, and we’re ready to proceed with the business of winning football games and graduating players and putting the emphasis on things that should have the emphasis.”

Michigan State got disappointing results from Mel Tucker (who was fired over allegations he sexually harassed a sexual-harassment lecturer) and Jonathan Smith (who never seemed to fit in East Lansing) before settling on someone who knows the Big Ten as well as anyone. Fitzgerald went 110-101 in 17 seasons at Northwestern, his alma mater, winning two Big Ten titles.

The president and athletic director who hired Fitzgerald at Michigan State both departed mere months after he arrived, only for president Kevin Guskiewicz to return after men's basketball coach Tom Izzo helped broker a peace between Guskiewicz and university trustees. That detente has allowed Fitzgerald and the football team to focus on football, even as the search for a fifth athletic director in eight years continues.

“The energy’s there,” Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic said. “That’s one thing you’d feel if you came into the facility today. The energy is there. Everyone’s feeling it. Everyone’s bringing it.”

The hope, at both programs, is for stability almost as much as it is for success.

“I’m looking forward to that,” said Michigan defensive tackle Trey Pierce, who was a contributor on the 2023 national-title team as a freshman. “We came here to play football at Michigan and it’s good to be out of the headlines, stay out of the headlines and just play football.”

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football