"It was like this new era had come. I wasn't sure if I would ever feel that again. I think back to 2013 and 2014 and all the newness of what that felt like, and all the excitement around that. I didn't feel I'd ever have that again -- and I had it again last year. It was really fun turning up to work every day and working with the staff and the players was really, really fun. And that was credit to everybody involved in the environment we tried to create."
Fitzgerald will make $5 million guaranteed in his first year and will be paid at least $500,000 more in each of the following four seasons. If he helps Michigan State win seven games in any of his first three seasons, an extra year and $500,000 will be added to his contract. If the Spartans simply win six games or more in the regular season, he will earn a $500,000 bonus; seven wins would give him an additional $1 million and an eight-win season would trigger a $1.5 million bonus.
"I'm very comfortable going into the season with a year left," Kerr said. "I'm so aligned with [general manager] Mike [Dunleavy] and [owner] Joe [Lacob]. We talked about this -- there's no reason for discussion or concern. This is kind of a point in our relationship where let's just see how it is at the end of the year."