Inside MSU's players-only meeting as Smith exits and Fitzgerald arrives - and the upcoming week that will redefine Michigan State Athletics

The Michigan State football team had celebrated Saturday night at Ford Field – their first win in two months – handing out game balls, slapping each other’s backs in the tunnels, clearing out the locker rooms with smiles on their faces.

By Sunday afternoon, the players weren't together – some had went home with family after the game, some had come back to campus – but the Teamworks app they all have on their phone beckoned them anyway.

At 2:15pm, the notice arrived:

Football student-athletes: players-only meeting today at 2:45 PM in the team meeting room. Zoom link provided for those unable to attend.

That was it. No hint. No explanation. But nobody needed one.

“You get a message like that from the athletic department,” one player said, “you kind of know what’s going on.”

Reports vary but somewhere between 30-50 of the players made their way to the football building and the team meeting room – the other 50-70 logged on to the Zoom link provided. Some from bedrooms. Some from cars. Some from home.

The room was quiet. Little to no chatter or whispering, just a kind of thick, stunned waiting.

And then J Batt walked in.

His remarks were short – about a minute or so, according to multiple players.

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