Inside the 48 hours that resulted in J Batt getting his man, Pat Fitzgerald, at MSU

In the hours after Michigan State’s season-ending win, while players trickled out of Ford Field and the public debate continued online whether Jonathan Smith deserved another year at the helm, J Batt stood in the back of the press room, watching Smith answer what he knew would be his last set of questions as the head coach of Michigan State University's football program.

Batt and his team had a game plan - what the next 48 hours would look like - and, looking back, it appears as if they have executed it, not necessarily flawlessly, but definitely as well as one could expect given the circumstances.

Difficult conversations had been taking place behind closed doors for weeks. It was the kind of dialogue that never shows up in public statements - frank, uncomfortable, high-stakes exchanges about money, leverage, and whether Michigan State could afford not to make a change.

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