Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo agrees to new contract

Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo is staying in East Lansing for a little while longer.

While questions about Izzo’s potential retirement have emerged in recent years, Izzo renewed his “Spartan For Life” commitment, which he declared in 2010, by agreeing to terms on a new five-year rollover contract. Alan Haller, MSU’s vice president and director of athletics, announced the news on Thursday.

Before the contract becomes official, it requires formal approval by the MSU Board of Trustees at their next meeting on Sept. 9. That is just a formality and is not expected to hold the deal up.

“Michigan State has been a home to me and my family for 40 years and I’m ecstatic to sign this contract,” Izzo said in a statement. “It means a great deal to me that the Board of Trustees, President Stanley, Alan Haller and the University continue to have the confidence in our program as we strive to be not only the best men’s basketball team in the country, but to play a role in helping every program in the department achieve success.

“We have worked hard to maintain championship standards and I’m as energized to coach now as I was when I started as the head coach in 1995. When you look at the last 10-12 seasons in men’s basketball and football, both under Coach (Mark) Dantonio and Coach (Mel) Tucker, you’d be hard-pressed to find a school with more success. But I know the best is yet to come – not only for our two programs, but for the entire department. This is an exciting time for Michigan State and there’s no better place to be in college athletics, with the support we have from the University, our students, our community and the tremendous Spartan alumni. I love Michigan State and I am proud and excited to continue the hard work to bring another national championship to East Lansing.”

Izzo’s five-year rollover contract includes non-performance related compensation of $5.92 million per year. That includes a $2.43 million base salary, $3.09 million in supplemental compensation and $400,000 from Nike, which provides footwear and apparel. The total compensation of the deal, which includes airplane use and additional fringe benefits, is about $6.2 million per year. Izzo is one of the top-three highest-paid coaches in men’s basketball, along with Bill Self (Kansas) and John Calipari (Kentucky), according to USA TODAY.

“Twelve years ago, Tom Izzo said he would be a Spartan for Life, and today’s announcement further demonstrates and renews this commitment,” Haller said. “We have worked collaboratively to come up with a contract which benefits the University, Coach Izzo and his family.

“Not only is Tom Izzo a Hall of Fame basketball coach, he’s a terrific ambassador for Michigan State University and Spartan Athletics. He means a great deal to our university, our department, our community and Spartans around the world. Although his legacy is cemented with a championship-filled resume, it’s very clear that Coach Izzo’s hungry to accomplish even more and bring great pride to Spartans everywhere. Michigan State is beyond lucky to have Tom Izzo as our head basketball coach!”

Izzo enters his 28th season at Michigan State in 2022-2023. A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer (inducted in 2016), Izzo has a career record of 666-267. He holds the record for the most total victories as a head coach at a Big Ten school.

Izzo has won one NCAA national championship (2000), has 10 regular-season Big Ten championships, six Big Ten Tournament titles, eight Final Four appearances and eight National Coach of the Year awards. He has also led MSU to a Big Ten-record 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

“We greatly appreciate Coach Izzo’s commitment to our outstanding University and his competitive drive to keep Spartan Basketball as a national powerhouse,” Michigan State President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., said. “He is a committed Spartan, full of pride for all that we do – for all our athletics programs and student athletes, but also for our academic programs and every single student on our campus. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are all grateful for his continued leadership at MSU.”

Izzo has also been strongly working on the future of his program, as Michigan State’s 2023 recruiting class currently ranks No. 3 in the country. It includes commitments from five-star power forward Xavier Booker, four-star forward Coen Carr, four-star point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and four-star shooting guard/small forward Gehrig Normand.

Michigan State will open the 2022-2023 season at home on Nov. 7 against Northern Arizona, and later, play Gonzaga on the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego on Nov. 11. The Spartans then take on Kentucky on Nov. 15 in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.

Update, Aug. 29: Izzo’s contract also includes an option for Izzo to have a post-retirement role with Michigan State University as a “special advisor” to the athletic director.