Tom Izzo has been a college basketball coach for about 47 years overall and has been the head coach at Michigan State University for about 31 seasons, starting with the 1995–96 season and continuing through the 2025–26 season.

Quick Scoop

  • Tom Izzo’s head-coaching career at Michigan State began in 1995.
  • Counting through the current 2025–26 season, that gives him roughly 31 seasons as MSU’s head coach.
  • His college coaching journey goes back to the late 1970s, when he was an assistant at Northern Michigan University starting in 1979, so he’s been coaching at the college level for about 47 years.
  • He joined Michigan State’s staff as an assistant in 1983, meaning he’s been part of the MSU program (assistant + head coach) for over four decades.

Mini timeline

  1. Late 1970s: Assistant coach at Northern Michigan University (start of his college coaching career, 1979).
  1. 1983: Joins Michigan State as a part‑time assistant.
  1. 1995: Promoted to head coach at Michigan State.
  1. 2000s–2020s: Builds a Hall of Fame résumé with an NCAA title, multiple Final Fours, and Big Ten records.

In forum and fan discussions, people often sum it up by saying he’s been “at State forever” or “there for 30-plus years,” which lines up with the official records of his long tenure.

TL;DR: If you’re asking “how long has Tom Izzo been coaching,” the quick answer is about 47 years in college coaching, including roughly 31 as the head coach at Michigan State.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.