Pat Fitzgerald isn’t wasting any time in East Lansing. Since being hired as Michigan State’s head coach on December 1, he’s been in full build mode-reworking the program, assembling his staff, and laying the foundation for what he hopes will be a new era of Spartan football. And now, he’s bringing in a familiar face to help run the show on offense.
Multiple sources confirm that Fitzgerald is hiring Mike Bajakian-most recently the offensive coordinator at UMass-as Michigan State’s new quarterbacks coach. It’s a reunion for the two, who worked together at Northwestern during the latter part of Fitzgerald’s tenure there. While the move takes Bajakian from coordinator back to a position coach role, it also marks a return to the Power Four level, and more importantly, to a system and head coach he knows well.
Bajakian’s coaching résumé is deep and diverse, spanning both college football and the NFL. He got his start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early 2000s, working in offensive quality control and as an assistant.
From there, he jumped into the college ranks, taking over as offensive coordinator at Central Michigan in 2009. That led to a three-year stint at Tennessee, where he served as OC and quarterbacks coach from 2010 to 2012.
He then returned to the NFL, rejoining the Buccaneers as their quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2018.
In 2020, Bajakian reunited with Fitzgerald at Northwestern, where he ran the offense and worked with quarterbacks through 2023. This past year, he served as the interim offensive coordinator at Utah before making the move back to the Big Ten.
The hire signals a clear direction from Fitzgerald: he’s prioritizing continuity and trust as he builds his new staff. Bajakian knows what Fitzgerald wants in a quarterback and how to implement it within the framework of a Power Four offense. That familiarity could be critical as Michigan State looks to rebound from a tough stretch.
Fitzgerald, of course, brings his own proven track record. He won 110 games over 17 seasons at Northwestern, making him the second-winningest active head coach in the Big Ten at the time of his departure. Now, he takes over a Michigan State program that’s looking to reset after back-to-back bowl-less seasons under Jonathan Smith, who was let go after two years at the helm.
There’s still more work to be done-both in finalizing the coaching staff and rebuilding the roster-but this move adds another piece to Fitzgerald’s vision for the Spartans. Bajakian’s experience, especially with quarterback development, could prove vital as Michigan State looks to reestablish itself in a competitive Big Ten landscape.
This is a developing situation, and more updates on staff additions and roster moves are expected in the coming weeks. But one thing’s clear: Fitzgerald is putting his stamp on the program, and he’s doing it with people he trusts to help turn things around.