**SPECIAL EMERGENCY EPISODE** Kicks, Trips, And Excuses: What Happens When A Legacy Coach Stops Owning It

Sirens blaring for a reason: a late presser turned a tough loss into a bigger story about leadership, rivalry heat, and where the line sits between physical play and dirty basketball. We walk through the timeline, the viral clips, and the exact quotes that sparked the fire, then dig into what accountability should look like when a program’s reputation gets tested under bright lights.

First, we set the stakes. Jeremy Fears’ trips and a brutal low blow didn’t just rile social media—they tested officiating norms and forced the question of how a “dirty” label changes the whistle. Then came Tom Izzo’s comments, framing the issue as something “blown up” once rival coaches went public. We break down why that response lands as deflection, how it reads inside a locker room, and why “we’re moving on from Michigan” doesn’t square with invoking Michigan to explain what happened a full game later.

From there, we go practical. What does real accountability look like? Bench decisions, clear standards for contact, and messaging that owns the clip instead of blaming the coverage. We explore how rivalries can warp situational focus, how to recalibrate player composure when reputations shift, and why fans can love their team and still demand a higher bar. This is a culture conversation as much as a basketball one, touching coaching credibility, program identity, and the ripple effects of public narratives.

If you care about college hoops, coaching leadership, and how programs weather culture storm, this one is for you. Tap play, bring your take, and let’s talk about how to compete hard without crossing the line. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves college basketball, and drop a review to tell us where you land on accountability versus excuses.

Transcript

Emergency Episode Drops

SPEAKER_00 0:31

What is up? This here is the Emergency Cooking with Gas podcast episode. You hear the sirens, people. It needed to drop. It needed to drop. There was no way I wasn't gonna be putting this episode out after what occurred yesterday. Let those sirens ring. Okay, here we go. So, last night, some stuff happened after my podcast episode got released, or it was scheduled for release, and I wasn't gonna be able to go back and kind of add to that. I wanted to put this episode out regarding certain things that happened yesterday after my episode was already scheduled.

Setting Context From Prior Episode

SPEAKER_00 1:19

In my latest episode, if you haven't gotten a chance to listen to it yet, I advise you do because this here is kind of a sequel to that episode. I

Allegations Of Dirty Play

SPEAKER_00 1:27

speak about what's going on between Michigan and Michigan State and these coaches and the drama that has been going on regarding Jeremy Fears being a dirty player, Dusty May, calling him out in the media, Tom Mizzo not respecting that, saying he needed a phone call or some shit, and then Jeremy Fears' play last night against Minnesota solidified this dude is probably one of the dirtiest players in college basketball. And on top of that, Tom Izzo is losing his damn mind in real time in front of us all. And if any of you Spartan fans disagree with that, I I need to know why. I need to hear it. I am I am here for it. I am seated waiting to hear your guys' explanation or the way you feel about how Tom Izzo is not only handling this situation, but how he's going to handle it in the future. Because it's very clear that Jeremy Fierce is a scumbag basketball player. I don't care what any of you say. The videos are out there, the dude is dirty. That's all there is to it. There's no way around it, okay? You cannot lie in video. And there are plenty, plenty clips out there. If you haven't seen them, I advise you you go watch them before you come at me with any smoke. Because if you try to come at me and you haven't seen these videos, I don't know how you defend anything that this guy is doing right now. Now, when it comes to Tom Izzo, this dude is is he's off his rocker. I don't know if he's just getting that old and he's senile, or he's truly believes what he's saying, but I'm gonna be going in on that guy right now. And if you can't handle it, I don't know what to tell you.

Media Questions And Izzo’s Remarks

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Because right now this dude is after the this is days later, games later, this dude is blaming Dusty May for his guards' dirty play. In the presser, after the Minnesota game, Michigan State lost to Minnesota last night, which is an inexcusable loss. They lost to Minnesota in his presser. Tom Izzo gets asked about Jeremy Fears being a dirty player, and he gets asked if he feels that Jeremy Fears is getting basically baited into fouling players. Now that the players know that Jeremy Fears either has, I don't know, emotional issues or limb issues where he can't control his limbs in certain situations. I I don't know what it is that Jeremy Fears is going through, but he's definitely going through something. So the media is asking Tom Izzo, do you think that Jeremy Fears is being baited into these situations so he will lose his cool and get a foul? And Tom Izzo's remarks for that are incredible. They are incredible. You have to hear it

Izzo Audio

SPEAKER_00 4:23

to believe it.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Two things with this. One, when a player gets that quote-unquote dirty tag, how does that change how they are officiated? And two, if you worry with Jeremy that he might get labeled kind of like the Grayson Allen territory where it that kind of overshadowed everything else.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Yes, I do worry about that. I I'd like to know if he hit somebody when he killed. I thought he got pushed, and the video shows his light going off. It does hit him. Then he deserved it. Then that was a good call. I I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So Tom Izzo didn't see that. Tom Izzo didn't see his star guard, who most of the time his eyes are on that individual, horse kick another player straight in the nuts. Izzo didn't see that. Just like he didn't see any of the tripping attempts during the Michigan game. He didn't see his player because Tom Izzo obviously isn't paying attention to what's going on in the game. Does this is this guy for real? And and you you guys as fans actually like believe this dude. I I guarantee that you believe this dude because just like you guys say that Michigan is a cult, you better believe I'm gonna start calling Michigan State a cult if you believe anything that is coming out of this senile old man's mouth right now. And and

Blame Game Toward Michigan

SPEAKER_00 5:45

that's not it. Oh, you better believe there's more.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

No, he is a physical player. So is number six. I mean, so is number five. You know, they're physical players. And I think things got blown up in the last game that when that stuff goes public, then you gotta you gotta really deal with it. You know, if that's private between a coach and a coach or the front office, but once it goes to you guys, then it gets blown up.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Is this dude for real right now? This is where I say the guy is losing his effing mind. Did he just try to justify what is going on by saying these guys are physical players and that's why he thinks that Jeremy Fears is kicking players in the nuts and tripping them? This dude is is off his rocker. He's completely lost any type of credibility when it comes to Tom Izzo and anything that he says at any presser. Not only that, he then goes on to say that since it was brought out to the public, that's the reason that Jeremy Fierce is doing this. He is blaming the University of Michigan and Dusty May for Jeremy Fears going out there, tripping players, pulling players' legs out from underneath them, kicking players in their groins. Tom Izzo just literally now now he also said, he also said that he was moving on from Michigan. I'm moving on from Michigan. Michigan's over. Two games later, a solid two games. Michigan game was played, Minnesota game was played. This dude still got Michigan on his mind. This dude's still blaming Michigan and Dusty May for his guards dirty ass play. There was no way that I wasn't gonna get up on this mic and roast this clown. There was no way that that wasn't gonna happen.

Accountability And Fan Reactions

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I'm sorry. Let me apologize to the Michigan State fans that are in my life and in my family. I am never going to let that happen. I don't give a shit if it's one of my coaches. If my coach goes up on the podium and makes some dumb ass remarks like that, I will be the first person to bury that dude deeper than six feet. But the fact that this guy came out there starts using physicality as an excuse for his guard to be kicking players and tripping players is ridiculous, number one, and then two jump all the way back to the Michigan game and talk about the reason that Jeremy Fears is doing this is because it was made public and it wasn't it was supposed to be between a coach and a coach. I mean, Izo has done lost the plot along with his mind in all of this. And I don't know how fans feel about this on the green and white side, but it has to be embarrassing, right? Over the past week, this guy has done nothing but embarrass you. If any of you come at me and say that this guy is is logical and what he is saying is okay and what he is saying is right, then I go back to the cult deal. Call Michigan a cult all you want, but you're sure as hell one also. Because this dude has lost his marbles, man. He is gone. He's broken. Michigan shattered this dude in half, actually into a million pieces. Can he Humpty Dumpty himself back together? I I'll be honest, I have no idea. I have no idea if he can. I don't see it happening this season. I just don't. Can can Jeremy Fears pull his head out of his ass and maybe start to play basketball and stop thinking that he's out playing street ball against some some clowns on the playground? I mean, I don't know. I don't know if that can happen either. But there was zero chance I was gonna let this slide after when I heard that that press conference, I almost came in here at 1 a.m. last night and recorded this. Dude's a clown, needs to take accountability, have his players take accountability, which is unbelievable to say about someone like Tomazo. When did this dude lose his way? I mean, is it simply the fact that Michigan handed him his own ass on a platter on his own hardwood? Is that is that when he lost his mind? Because it seems so. I I I don't know if Dusty May is just in this dude's head rent-free all the time, or or this guy is seriously losing his shit. I think it's a little of both. But that's the quick episode here. I just wanted to get that out. There was no way I was gonna let this guy come out and try to clown on on Dusty May in Michigan in his presser after he played Minnesota. Here, let me blame Dusty May and Michigan for my point guard's dirty ass play. So that's where I'm at with it. And like always, I tell people, hit me up, throw your haymakers, do whatever you gotta do in order to get your voice to me. I tell you all the time, I tell you where to reach me, how to reach me. Get at me in any of the outlets. You think I'm

Final Thoughts And Listener CTA

SPEAKER_00 10:55

crazy? You wanna come at me? Bring me all the smoke, man. All the smoke. I'm ready for it. Okay? Because right now, I don't know how you guys feel. All I know is is I can literally feel second-hand embarrassment from being friends with Michigan State fans right now. So that's the end of this episode. It was quick. It was painless. Well, painless for for some people. I'm sure state fans, they gotta be feeling some pain right now. Now, this doesn't mean that this is the end of the world. Tom Izzo can absolutely get this team back on track. But man, he's really gotta start writing the ship and doing it quick and stop blaming other people for your own problems, man. I mean, when did this guy turn like 15 years old? Become an adult, take responsibility, coach your team, and then maybe you can dig yourself out of this massive grave you're in. Until any of that occurs, I don't know. I don't know what to tell you guys. What I can't tell you is get at me, Cooking with Gas Podcast on Facebook, Cooking with Gas Podcast on Instagram. Shit, you can even hit me up, old man style, Tom Izzo style, cooking with gas podcast at gmail.com. Send me that email. I'm waiting for it. And don't forget, go to Facebook, go to the Cooking With Gas Podcast website, and hit me up on the text. That's the easiest way to do this stuff here. Hit me up on that text line, send me a text, we'll talk about it. I'll bring it up on the air. It'll be hot. Let's do it, people. That's the end of this cooking with gas episode. Quick emergency press conference episode of Cooking with Gas. Get at me. Let me know how you feel. Peace out.