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Tom Izzo has established himself as one of the finest coaches on the college basketball circuit. The Michigan State coach once shared the most difficult part his players and coaching staff go through while working with him.
During an interview with Graham Bensinger in March 2023, Izzo opened up on how he always demands more from his players and coaching staff.
"Never happy, never satisfied," Izzo said. "I mean, I think that's hard for people, the ones that don't live it. And I think people don't like to be held accountable. They don't like to be confronted.
"I stole something from Nick (Saban) when I went down there once. He had a sign that said, 'Confront and demand.' If you just confront somebody on the problem, you've done half the job. If you don't demand the changes, people don’t like to confront or demand anymore. Some people avoid controversy; sometimes, I seek it."
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Izzo has been at MSU since 1983, when he was hired as the assistant coach. He was promoted to head coach in 1995 and has kept that role ever since.
Izzo led the Spartans to the national championship in 2000. He has also won six Big Ten tournaments and 11 Big Ten regular-season titles.
Izzo has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year on four occasions and has also twice been named the NABC Coach of the Year.
A look at some of the famous coaches who have worked under Tom Izzo
Tom Izzo has had many assistant coaches during his time at Michigan State, including Tom Crean, Brian Gregory, Jim Boylen and Stan Joplin who went on to become head coaches at other programs.
Crean was an assistant coach at MSU from 1995 to 1999. He went on to serve as the head coach for Marquette, Indiana and more recently Georgia.
Boylen was an assistant coach at Michigan State from 1987 to 1992. He later served as the head coach at Utah and was also the head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Gregory was an assistant coach at MSU from 1990 to 1996. He was the head coach for Dayton, Georgia Tech and South Florida.
Joplin was an assistant coach at Michigan State from 1990 to 1996. He left MSU to take up the head coaching job at Toledo until 2008.
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