EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo spent Friday night coaching Michigan State to a win at Ohio State.
With the team off Saturday, he headed to Chicago to watch the No. 1 Spartans skate to a 4-3 overtime win against Wisconsin at Wrigley Field.
Izzo didn’t make it to Ford Field on Sunday night to see the Lions beat the Vikings 31-9 to clinch the NFC North and No. 1 seed but watched on TV. Toughness and depth were on display as the injury-riddled Lions showed their trademark grit, which Izzo would like his team to replicate in its own way.
“I don’t know what’s my opportunity to go for fourth-and-2 or 3 but other than that, I hope there is,” Izzo said on Monday. “The grit that they showed is kind of what you want but I think we showed some grit too and I think we’ve done that.”
No. 16 Michigan State (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) held on for a 69-62 win at Ohio State last week for its seventh straight victory. It’s a revamped team Izzo put together with standout depth the strength heading into hosting Washington on Thursday.
Now in his 30th season leading Michigan State, Izzo has gone against the grain plenty of times and sees a kindred spirit in Dan Campbell. The fourth-year coach of the Lions is as aggressive as they come in keeping the offense on the field on fourth down.
“I think what it does as a coach,” Izzo said last week, “it tells your team I trust you, I believe in you, we’re going to get this done, damn it, and he says it in way better words than that. That’s why I love the guy.”
As an Iron Mountain native, Izzo is a longtime fan of the Packers and stays true to his roots. He also is a huge supporter of Campbell and the Lions, who just recorded a franchise-record 15th win, and will share his quotes with the Spartans.
“I’ve said it all along, when pro sports in our state or any of us are doing well, it helps our whole state,” Izzo said. “Dan’s been a treat to watch. They’ve all taken on his personality.”
Izzo, a longtime football fanatic, admitted questioning the fourth-down aggressiveness early in Campbell’s tenure before realizing how it worked and fit the team. The burning passion, raspy voice and blue-collar approach Campbell brings is a driving force behind the Lions shaking off decades of losing.
“He’d be a hell of a Yooper, man,” Izzo said of Campell, a Texas native. “He could go down 100 feet into those mines and I’m telling you, the rats would be coming out of there, he’d be still down there.”
Izzo’s longtime friend, Steve Mariucci, had an unsuccessful run leading the Lions for two-plus seasons before being fired in 2005. It’s a fan base that showed up through a lot of down years now finally experiencing high-level success.
“Detroit, Michigan,” Izzo said, “is a football town like no football town.”
