PJ Fleck said Michigan State football DC Joe Rossi was the best coach on his staff

Michigan State football just wrapped up attending Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, and there were so many great and interesting moments that came out of it. It gets especially interesting when one of Michigan State’s coaches leaves another Big Ten school to follow Jonathan Smith to MSU.

That’s exactly what happened to Joe Rossi, who was the defensive coordinator at Minnesota before accepting the same role on Smith’s staff.

Rossi joined the Gopher staff in 2017 as an assistant quality control before becoming defensive line coach in January 2018. From there, he became defensive coordinator in December 2018, a position he held until transferring to Michigan State.

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck was of course asked about Rossi, and Fleck had nothing but good things to say about him. Fleck even said that Rossi is “the best” coordinator he’s ever had.

Fleck’s praise for Rossi didn’t stop there. Fleck also said he supported Rossi “100 percent” in his decision to take the job at Michigan State.

I found this quote interesting because he left Minnesota to take the same position at Michigan State. It would be normal in my eyes for a head coach to be happy if one of his assistants goes to be a head coach somewhere else, but when he’ll take the same position somewhere else, I don’t know.

Fleck then went on to explain what he specifically appreciates about Rossi as a coach.

“He’s very precise, he’s very detailed. He knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it done.”

– PJ Vlek

When I first read these quotes from Fleck, I thought it was just coaching speak. Of course he wouldn’t say anything bad about his former coach in public. No one would be stupid enough to do that. But then I thought about it further and realized that Fleck went beyond what he probably should have said.

Instead of just saying one nice thing and moving on, Fleck praised Rossi three times. This is what makes me think he is 100 percent sincere with these comments. And if that is the case, then I am even more excited that Rossi is now in East Lansing.

Fleck has had a long career as a head coach, so he’s had a lot of different coaches and coordinators on his staff, so Rossi being the best he’s ever had says something.

Now I’m more convinced than ever that Smith brought someone special to East Lansing, and thankfully he did. We all know how the defense has struggled the last few years, so hopefully Rossi can come in soon and turn things around and make the defense strong again.

And if I had to guess, I think Fleck thinks he’s going to do that too.