Michigan State has made Pat Fitzgerald the new leader of their football program, replacing Jonathan Smith as the head coach of the Spartans.
It has been a whirlwind of a week for Fitzgerald, who is working hard to address the current roster, securing a recruiting class and get accumulated to East Lansing. Most importantly, though, Fitzgerald is going to need to start constructing his staff, and getting his assistant coaches in place to start building his program.
For defensive coordinator, it feels like a clearer path, with a list of candidates that would make sense for Michigan State. For offensive coordinator, it feels like a straight wild card for the right person that Fitzgerald wants to hire.
As of now, there is very limited intel for who Fitzgerald is preparing to interview, leaving fans to speculate who the name could ultimately be.
Here, I have done some research, and made some connections to give a list of five names that could make sense to be Fitzgerald’s offensive coordinator hire:
Kevin Johns (Oklahoma State QBs coach)
The name I believe is the favorite to get this job is Kevin Johns, a Piqua (OH) native. Johns has a connection to Fitzgerald, being a staff member at Northwestern from 1999-2001 and 2004-2010 under both Randy Walker and Fitzgerald as a graduate assistant, running backs coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
He was never fired, instead getting a promotion in his career as an offensive coordinator. Johns’ offensive coordinator run went as follows: Indiana (2011-2016), Western Michigan (2017), Texas Tech (2018), Memphis (2019-2021) and Duke (2022-2023). Teams he play-called for averaged 31.9 points per game over his career.
The last two years have been spent with Oklahoma as an analyst, before being promoted to Co-OC midseason after a firing by Brent Venables, and then Oklahoma State as a quarterbacks coach.
Why it works: Johns has a prior relationship with Fitzgerald, and would be familiar with working under the new MSU head coach. Further, he has had a very successful run as an offensive coordinator across several different leagues, with familiarity to the Midwest. Running a similar offense to what Fitzgerald had at Northwestern, this makes a ton of sense for Fitzgerald.
Warren Ruggiero (Iowa Senior Offensive Analyst)
During the coaching staff search, there will be no shortage of Iowa connections that get linked to Fitzgerald. This one is unique, though. Warren Ruggiero is a very experienced offensive coordinator that could be looking for a position this offseason.
A longtime right hand man for Dave Clawson, Ruggiero acted as his offensive coordinator and QB coach for the full duration of his FBS head coaching career at both Bowling Green (2009-2013) and Wake Forest (2014-2024). At Wake Forest, Ruggiero was responsible for developing three very good QBs in John Wolford, Jamie Newman and Sam Hartman.
Following Clawson’s retirement, Ruggiero settled into a role with his good friend Tim Lester at Iowa.
Why it works: As it has been said a bunch of times, Fitzgerald has countless connections to Iowa, including his son, Ryan, who would have been coached by Ruggiero this year. Ruggiero ran an offense at Wake Forest that resembled what Fitzgerald liked at Northwestern, making it a system fit. An offensive coordinator with 26 years of offensive coordinating experience, 11 being at the power conference level, with a connection to Fitzgerald, makes a ton of sense to be in the conversation.
Adam Cushing (Texas A&M OL/Run Game Coordinator)
Another direct connection to Fitzgerald, with major college coaching experience is Adam Cushing. Cushing worked as a TE coach from 2004-2008 and OL coach from 2008-2018 with Northwestern. So, obviously, he is very familiar with Fitzgerald.
After leaving Northwestern for a head coaching position at Eastern Illinois, he has been on Mike Elko’s staff at Duke for two years and now Texas A&M for the last two years. In his last two stops, he was the OL coach under the aforementioned Kevin Johns at Duke, before moving to College Station and receiving a run game coordinator tag, working with Collin Klein.
He does not have experience being a true offensive coordinator or calling plays, yet.
Why it works: For starters, his obvious connection and friendship with Fitzgerald makes this check a very big box. Now, a coach that has not yet worked as an offensive coordinator could hold a concern, Cushing has learned under three outstanding offensive coordinators in Johns, Klein and Mick McCall. Michigan State needs to get back to being physical on offense, and adding another offensive line mind, who has been prepped for this role, would make a ton of sense.
Jason Candle (Toledo HC)
Yes, I believe the Toledo head coach could be a candidate for the offensive coordinator position. Candle, a brilliant offensive mind as an OC and head coach at Toledo, has a ton of connections in recruiting the Midwest and would be a massive asset to MSU.
Now, Candle obviously is overqualified, but why would he take the job? First off, Candle was rumored to be a finalist for Michigan’s OC opening last offseason, showing that he is at least poking around offensive coordinator roles in the Big Ten. Secondly, Candle has struck out landing a power conference head coaching job, and could see the need to enhance his resume with a power conference gig to get him over that hump.
Why it works: Obviously, there is no direct relationship to Fitzgerald, but I would be remised to think they are not familiar with each other. Both coaches working in the Midwest, and Fitzgerald being the President of the AFCA, I am sure they know one another. Now, the other side of things, Candle could see the need to work in the P4 in order to land a P4 head coaching job, and a place he would be very familiar with the landscape surrounding would make a lot of sense for his personal endeavors. It is worth the call for Fitzgerald.
Joe Moorhead (Akron HC)
Following the same line of thinking, Moorhead could want to get back into the power conference game, moving on from his head role at Akron. A very successful offensive coordinator at both Penn State and Oregon, split up by a head coaching job at Mississippi State, Moorhead has had a ton of success as an offensive coach in his career.
Digging deeper into his resume, Moorhead was an offensive coordinator at Georgetown, Akron and UConn in his career. His career head coaching record at Fordham, Mississippi State and Akron is 65-60.
Why it works: Another candidate that does not have a direct relationship with Fitzgerald, he is again certainly someone that the new MSU head coach is familiar with. Moorhead knows the Big Ten and Midwest landscape, and has a ton of success as an offensive mind in his career in the Big Ten, SEC and PAC 12 conferences. The offensive coordinator hire is a big one for Fitzgerald, and turning to a veteran that knows the landscape could be a very wise decision for MSU.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Five potential offensive coordinator candidates for Michigan State
