Tom Izzo admits the state of college basketball has him questioning his coaching future

Turning 71 this upcoming season, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo is one of the oldest active coaches in college basketball. He has since seen a lot in his three decades as head coach of the Spartans, especially in the last few seasons, which has him wondering how much longer he wants to do it.

Appearing on the Big Ten Network while at media days in Chicago on Thursday, Izzo discussed his coaching future. He admitted that he doesn’t know what about the sport or college athletics in general still has him excited about being a part of it. That doesn’t apply to his program, though, as his team is what he’s focusing on to stay as engaged as he is anymore.

“I don’t know,” Izzo said when asked what keeps him going in the sport. “There’s times I do question it, especially when I see a lot of my friends out and choosing different ways to go. I mean, college sports? It’s in a tough position right now.

“I’ve kind of honed in on my team more, my school more, instead of being on all the committees. There’s so many challenging things going on. There wasn’t room for both,” Izzo said. “And so, now, I’m just kind of honing in on my own team. And, I’ve really enjoyed it so far.”

Izzo has been the head coach in East Lansing since 1995, making him the second-longest tenured active coach behind only Oakland’s Greg Kampe. He has, since then, watched the game change in more ways than one, both on and off the court, over those 30 seasons. That, in this case, has more so to do with the off-court changes, with Izzo having been outspoken before on the new aspects of collegiate sports like the NCAA Transfer Portal or NIL. He has said as recently as two weeks ago that he isn’t retiring yet, but it does make you wonder how much longer he’ll want to do the job in this modern era of college basketball.

However, Izzo hasn’t lost it yet as far as his coaching. That’s with Michigan State going 30-7 (.811), as the Spartans won the regular-season title in the Big Ten and reached the Elite Eight in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It was the program’s best campaign in half a decade and was one of the better ones of his tenure.

A lot has changed around Izzo. But, while it may have him questioning the future of college coaching in general, he’s still committed to his role with the Spartans going into the 31st year of his tenure in ’25-’26.

“I said, I still love my job. I just question my profession at times,” Izzo said.