Michigan State legend Tom Izzo is admitting he was WRONG to be mad about Colin Kaepernick‘s national anthem protest … saying George Floyd‘s death helped him understand what the movement was all about.

“Listen, I learn lessons too. And, I’m still learning at this age,” 65-year-old Izzo said on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday.

“I talked to all those people to try to get a good feel. And, what I realized is, I wasn’t real happy with the Colin Kaepernick thing when it happened.”

Izzo says he initially thought kneeling for the anthem was disrespectful to the flag … but years later, he now knows what Kap was doing.

“And, yet, as I look back on it, how ignorant am I? Because that was a peaceful protest.”

Izzo added he was “sickened” by Floyd’s death last month … saying, “It was real and it was disappointing, but it was disgusting.”

“None of us know all the things that happen, but a human life is a human life and we’re treating it like it’s nothing.”

Izzo isn’t alone in switching his stance on the anthem — NFL commish Roger Goodell recently apologized for how the league mishandled the kneeling protests … and Drew Brees has also had a change of heart.