Michigan State’s season opener against Toledo comes with all the usual first-game uncertainty, but this one carries an extra layer of mystery. Both programs are under first-year head coaches, and both rosters have been rebuilt almost from the ground up.
MSU coach Fitzgerald put it plainly: "I think we're kind of mirrors of each other," Fitzgerald said. "First-year head coaches, both with 50-plus guys that are new to the roster [high school recruits and transfers].
You've got to do a ton of research on where coordinators have been, where the head coach has been. So that's been ongoing all offseason."
That overhaul is easy to see on both sidelines. Michigan State added 29 transfers, while Toledo brought in 37, a reflection of how much turnover now comes with a coaching change in college football. But the paths the two staffs took to get here are not the same.
Friday will be Jacobs’ first game as an FBS head coach. The 47-year-old arrives with a 94-23 record over 10 seasons, though all of it came at the Division II or FCS level.
His most recent stop was Mercer, where he spent the last two seasons and went 20-6 with a 15-1 record in conference play. Mercer also made the FCS playoffs both years, and that success helped pull a familiar group with him to Toledo.
Jacobs brought seven coaches from Mercer, including defensive coordinator Jahmal Brown, who is entering his eighth season working alongside him. The Rockets also added 14 transfers from Mercer, among them junior defensive end Andrew Zock, the reigning FCS Defensive Player of the Year.
"He's an excellent football player, somebody that we'll certainly know where he is. I say that in the most respectful way because he's earned our attention," MSU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said of Zock.
"Very productive player. Physical, strong, high effort ... he was obviously the FCS Defensive Player of the Year, so the production speaks for itself."
Fitzgerald’s situation is different. This will be his first game in green and white, but not his first as an FBS head coach.
The 51-year-old spent 17 years at Northwestern, his alma mater, and has won the second-most games among active Big Ten coaches, behind only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. But after three years away from college football, he had to build everything from scratch in East Lansing.
That meant no carryover players and no staff members from his previous stop. Instead, Fitzgerald leaned into depth and targeted experience, landing 13 players from Power Four schools. Michigan State also added impact veterans like running back Cam Edwards and offensive tackle Ben Murawski, both redshirt seniors who played major roles in UConn’s 9-4 season.
The bigger question for MSU is not whether it has enough talent. It’s whether all those pieces can come together quickly enough. The same question hangs over Toledo, only with a different twist: can a coach and core group that dominated at the FCS level translate that success against Big Ten competition?
Fitzgerald doesn’t need long to find out. Friday night will tell him plenty.
"As far as who we are and what we are about, yeah I got a pretty good idea," Fitzgerald said. "But I think when I see you guys Friday night, maybe Saturday morning around 1 a.m. I think I'll know a lot about my team."
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Friday in East Lansing, and the game will air on FS1.
In Other News...
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The bigger issue still hangs over BYUs planning for the season, since a court ruling expected on Sept. 29 could change Kohlers eligibility status. For a program trying to map out its frontcourt rotation, that leaves Kohler in a strange spot - available enough to be part of the conversation, but not quite settled enough to remove the uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
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The matchup brings another layer of intrigue because Notre Dame has been stubborn to put away this season despite a 1-0-4 record, and the Fighting Irish are still drawing attention after slipping out of the Top 25. For Michigan State, the challenge is less about scoreboard chasing than proving the start is built to last, with Kennedy Bell, Kayla Briggs, Emerson Sargeant, Bella Najera and goalkeeper Bella Schopp all playing key roles in getting the Spartans here. [Read more 🡒]