Pat Fitzgerald: Northwestern football coach fired over hazing reports
By: Chicago Tribune
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Pat Fitzgerald was fired as Northwestern football coach Monday after a hazing scandal tarnished the program he helped build.
In a statement emailed to the university community, President Michael Schill said he told Fitzgerald on Monday afternoon "he was being relieved of his duties effective immediately," citing a "broken" culture in the program.
"The damage done to our institution is significant," Schill said, "as is the harm to some of our students."
Fitzgerald originally received a two-week, unpaid suspension from the university Friday after an outside investigation confirmed a former player's account of hazing by teammates. The report said the coaching staff had "significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing conduct," which it did not detail.
After the student paper, The Daily Northwestern, on Saturday published the former player's account of sexualized hazing activities, Schill said in a letter to the Northwestern community he erred in judgment and would revisit the sanctions against Fitzgerald.
Two days later, Fitzgerald was out.
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In his statement Monday, Schill said he reached his decision "after a difficult and complex evaluation" of his initial punishment for Fitzgerald's "failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program."
A groundskeeper walks through an empty Ryan Field, home to Northwestern University football, on July 10, 2023, in Evanston. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
"Over the last 72 hours, I have spent a great deal of time in thought and in discussions with people who love our University — the Chair and members of our Board of Trustees, faculty leadership, students, alumni and Coach Fitzgerald himself," Schill said. "I have also received many phone calls, text messages and emails from those I know, and those I don't, sharing their thoughts.
"While I am appreciative of the feedback and considered it in my decision-making, ultimately, the decision to originally suspend Coach Fitzgerald was mine and mine alone, as is the decision to part ways with him."
Fitzgerald's agent, Bryan Harlan, did not immediately return messages from the Tribune seeking comment from Fitzgerald. Northwestern said there would be no media availability Monday night.
The external investigation found 11 current or former players who corroborated the hazing allegations, according to Schill's statement, and subsequent media reporting revealed other former players who "confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years."
While Schill said the investigator found no "credible evidence" that Fitzgerald knew about the hazing, it was "well-known by many in the program."
"The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team," Schill said. "The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening.
"Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others."
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald looks on from the sideline in the second half of a game against Michigan State at Ryan Field in Evanston on Sept. 3, 2021. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
First-year defensive coordinator David Braun is expected to be named acting head coach, ESPN reported Monday night. Braun was hired in January from North Dakota State.
Fitzgerald ends his Northwestern career as the winningest football coach in school history with a 110-101 record in 17 seasons. A former star linebacker on the Wildcats' 1995 team that played in the Rose Bowl, Fitzgerald became the youngest head coach in the nation when he took over for Randy Walker in 2006 at age 31 after Walker died of a heart attack.
Walker had hired Fitzgerald as a secondary coach in 2001, and Fitzgerald was moved to linebackers coach the next year.
"This would have been Randy's choice," Walker's widow, Tammy, said at the time. "(Fitzgerald) becoming the head coach will keep all of the positive things at NU going in the same direction."
When former athletic director Mark Murphy came to Fitzgerald's house to offer him the job, Fitzgerald called it "the most bittersweet moment I've ever had. It was a dream of mine to be head coach here, but not under these circumstances."
Before his first season he told the Tribune: "I've learned that life is extremely fragile and you need to live life every day like it may be your last, and to really, truly love the people who are close to you and that they know that you love them. And communicate to the people around you how important they are in your life because you never know when that's not going to be there."
Over the years, Fitzgerald frequently was the subject of job rumors, with NFL teams and other power conference schools reportedly interested in hiring him away.
But he stayed at his alma mater, and after the Wildcats made the Big Ten title game for the second time in three years during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he was rewarded with a 10-year contract through 2030 worth a reported $57 million.
The Wildcats suffered through a 3-9 season in 2021 and hit rock bottom the next year, going 1-11 with their only victory coming in the opener against Nebraska in Ireland. Still, there was no talk of Fitzgerald's job being in jeopardy until the external report on the hazing scandal was released Friday.
The university and Fitzgerald declined to comment as details of the reported hazing became public, adding to the scrutiny over his future. By Monday, it was no longer tenable for Fitzgerald to continue.
Sports marketing consultant Marc Ganis said he expects Fitzgerald will find other employment very quickly.
"Pat Fitzgerald," Ganis said, "has just become the most sought-after free agent in all of college football."
Tribune reporter Robert Channick contributed.
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Pretty big deal in college football. At times he has been considered a miracle worker, getting Northwestern to many bowl games, even though they have the toughest academics in the Big Ten. They dont get the type of players that go to Ohio State, Michigan or Wisconsin.
Considered one of the best coaches in the country, for them to fire him they must have information that he knew what was going on but kept a blind eye. It reminds me a little of the Joe Paterno situation some years ago.
It sure seems to be the case.
Every time I see these stories it blows my mind all over again. These are supposed to be responsible adults who let this shit go on. It truly is possible to run an athletic program and still have respect for the basic human dignity of everyone involved.
Welcome to fall guy 101. They needed a scapegoat and they picked the most convenient one. They had better fire far more than just him if it was really "that wide spread and clearly not a secret within the program"; but since they have hired the defensive coordinator as a replacement (who admittedly is in his first year) chances are that won't be happening.
Sure it didn't. As his big contract extension signed in 2020 extending him through 2030 for $57 million didn't play a factor in it either. Think the University is going to honor that contract? They will fight it in court every step of the way should Fitzgerald chose to sue.
I am sure any players recruited by Fitzgerald will want to transfer out as soon as possible; especially the incoming freshman class. They signed on to play under Fitzgerald- not some emergency plug in that is saving the University millions of dollars.
Northwestern has gone through dry spells with the wins a few times before. Its hard to sustain a high level of winning there. Its pretty likely that he would have got them back to the heights again at some point.
I think they have some sort of "smoking gun" , if not that he was involved directly, that he was aware of it and looked the other way.
www.foxnews.com /sports/northwesterns-pat-fitzgerald-absolutely-knew-hazing-football-program-former-player-says
Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald 'absolutely knew' about hazing within football program, former player says
Ryan Gaydos 7-8 minutes 7/10/2023
Northwestern Wildcats football coach Pat Fitzgerald "absolutely knew" about the hazing that was going on in the program, a former player said Sunday as specific details of the alleged incidents surfaced earlier in the week.
The former Wildcats player told ESPN he spoke to university president Michael Schill about the hazing he said he witnessed while he was in the program. Fitzgerald has been the head coach at Northwestern since 2006 and led them to three 10-win seasons over the course of his tenure. He was suspended for two weeks as the university gathered more information about the allegations.
"Fitz absolutely knew about hazing in this program ," the former player told ESPN. "Fitz absolutely failed by not intervening. Fitz knew and he should have made it stop, and if he truly did not know, he should not be the head coach. Either way, he should not be the head coach, because he is not monitoring and protecting the safety and well-being of student-athletes."
Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald speaks during the Big Ten Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Indianapolis. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
The former player told the outlet that Schill was "extremely receptive" to his story and offered resources to help with the trauma from the experiences.
A current player on the Wildcats team told ESPN that the former player’s objective was to take down Fitzgerald and get him removed from the program. The current player added that "the truth is none of that stuff happened in our locker room."
The former player added that he wanted to get Fitzgerald "out of the program" but his objective was greater than that.
"I want to shed light on this heinous, illegal behavior. I wanted illegal behavior out of the program. This is an absolutely barbaric and egregious culture that ultimately lies on the shoulders of the head coach," the former player said, adding that the older players had a group called the "Shrek gang" and a younger player would be restrained in a dark room and would be forced in "sexualized behavior."
"They have been held down against their will by numerous upperclassmen with masks on and have been violently dry-humped in a dark room," the former player said. "This is Title IX stuff, this is sexual abuse and sexual assault. I don't know why the university isn't making the details public."
The former player also spoke of "Shrek’s List" in which players were given certain trials to go through, including "naked slingshot" and "naked bear crawls." The current player rebutted and said he never heard of "Shrek’s List."
Both players spoke anonymously to ESPN .
On Saturday night, Northwestern football players released a joint statement pushing back on claims that surfaced earlier in the week and expressed support for Fitzgerald.
Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the team wait to take the field before the field against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 5, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
"Northwestern Football players DO NOT tolerate hazing," the letter read. "We want to reiterate that as representatives of the Northwestern Football program, we do not tolerate hazing in any form. Hazing goes against our values of respect, integrity, and personal growth. We are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes the well-being and development of every individual on our team.
"It is disheartening to see that the allegations brought forth against our team have been exaggerated and twisted into lies. These fabrications have been made with the intention of harming our program and tarnish the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff. We firmly deny the validity of these accusations and stand united in our assertion that they do not reflect the true character of our team."
The letter added that Northwestern conducted an "independent third-party" investigation into the matter that took "a rigorous six months" to complete. The investigation included interviews with current and former players as well as coaching staff.
Northwestern said Friday that after a six-month investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey of law firm ArentFox Schiff, did not find "sufficient" evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing – though there were "significant opportunities" to find out about it.
On Saturday, The Daily Northwestern published a story detailing allegations from a former player who described specific instances of hazing and sexual abuse. The report also suggested that Fitzgerald "may have known that hazing took place."
Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald looks on before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 28, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Schill wrote an open letter to the university community and acknowledged focusing "too much on what the report concluded (Fitzgerald) didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known." He said he planned on speaking with university leadership, the board of trustees and leaders of the faculty senate to determine the next steps.
"As the head coach of one of our athletics programs, Coach Fitzgerald is not only responsible for what happens within the program but also must take great care to uphold our institutional commitment to the student experience and our priority to ensure all students — undergraduate and graduate — can thrive during their time at Northwestern," Schill wrote.
"He failed to uphold that commitment and I failed to sufficiently consider that failure in levying a sanction."
The school first learned of the hazing allegations in late 2022 and the former player who brought up the complaint spoke to investigators earlier this year as part of probe launched by the school. The report concluded the claims could be "largely supported by the evidence" but couldn’t determine whether the coaching staff knew of the instances.
Fitzgerald was suspended for two weeks and preseason camps in Wisconsin would be discontinued. Additionally, the locker room would be monitored by an official outside the purview of the coaching staff and the school would create a tool for anonymously reporting hazing. Coaches, staff and athletes would also be required to take anti-hazing training and the school would form a group to report on policy, culture, training and enforcement.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
There are also players saying the complaining player went around saying he would lie and exaggerate in order to get Fitzgerald fired.