MSU keeps coach Rowe

Michigan State didn’t wait for the offseason to cool down before making its call on Mike Rowe. On April 10, the school gave its women’s gymnastics coach a three-year extension that now runs through 2029. (msuspartans.com) The timing lines up with the best stretch this program has had in years. Michigan State finished 24-8 in 2026 and reached an National Collegiate Athletic Association regional final for the fifth straight season. (msuspartans.com) In college gymnastics, a regional final is the round that decides who gets one of the last spots at the national championship meet. Michigan State made that round again in Tempe, scored 197.000, and finished behind Florida’s 198.050 and Georgia’s 197.750. (msuspartans.com) This was not a one-week spike. Michigan State posted nine team scores of 197.000 or better in 2026, which is the kind of consistency judges and postseason brackets both reward. (msuspartans.com) Rowe’s full record at Michigan State is 159-101-1 across nine seasons, and the school said the extension reflects what athletic director J Batt called “consistent high standards.” The new deal keeps Rowe, a Michigan State graduate, in East Lansing through the end of the decade. (msuspartans.com) (statenews.com) The climb looks sharper when you compare it to where the program was before this run. A feature published in March described Rowe and associate head coach Nicole Curler Jones as the pair who rebuilt the team over the last seven years after Rowe took over in 2018. (lockerverse.com) That rebuild has started producing individual national-level results too. Michigan State’s athletics site lists the team as heading to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships on April 16, 2026, and local television coverage said three Spartans are still competing there as individuals after the team race ended in Tempe. (msuspartans.com) (youtube.com) So the extension is not a reward for one good month. Michigan State looked at five straight regional finals, a top-two finish at the Big Ten Championships, and a coach with a contract expiring sooner than the school wanted, and decided to lock him in through 2029. (msuspartans.com) (statenews.com)