Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State pick up important recruiting win over Big Ten foes

Pat Fitzgerald has a ton of work ahead of him as the new head coach of the Michigan State Spartans.

These aren't the same Spartans that dominated the Big Ten and made the College Football Playoff at the height of the Mark Dantonio era. This is the program that suffered the embarrassment of the Mel Tucker scandal and then followed that up with the mediocrity of the Jonathan Smith era.

Fitzgerald was brought to East Lansing to bring Michigan State back to contender status in the Big Ten, at least, and that starts and ends on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.

To that point, the Spartans picked up a big recruiting win on Wednesday. Matthew Brady is a 3-star linebacker from Bloomington, Illinois, and he committed to Michigan State on Tuesday over Illinois, Northwestern and Nebraska.

That's a big Big Ten recruiting victory for MSU, and Fitzgerald can be proud of the job that he and his staff did to bring Brady in. Fitzgerald and his assistants, Joe Rossi, Max Bullough and Chris Gordon played a big role in this win.

“I definitely had the gut feeling, but it really came down to the coaches,” Brady told Greg Smith of Rivals. “With Coach Fitz, Rossi, Bullough and Gordon it is a great opportunity for me to develop into a big time linebacker. “They have great coaching styles and really guide you to be the best version of yourself. Also the culture and vibe of the whole building and program is amazing. It is a chance to be the foundation of something special, and I couldn’t be more pumped to get this program back to dominance.”

Matthew Brady has high upside as a 3-star LB recruit for Michigan State