Northwestern fires coach Pat Fitzgerald

 

[July 11, 2023]  Northwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid the continued fallout of a controversy surrounding alleged hazing within the program.

The decision comes three days after Fitzgerald received a two-week suspension without pay following an independent investigation that found hazing allegations were "largely supported by evidence."

A player came forward to the student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, and revealed that some of the hazing included coerced sexual acts. Fitzgerald is also accused of presiding over a "culture of enabling racism."

University president Michael Schill wrote a letter to the Northwestern community Saturday night admitting that the school "may have erred" in the severity of its discipline. Schill then confirmed reports of Fitzgerald's firing with another letter Monday evening.

"This afternoon, I informed Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald that he was being relieved of his duties effective immediately," Schill wrote Monday. "The decision comes after a difficult and complex evaluation of my original discipline decision imposed last week on Coach Fitzgerald for his failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program."

Schill said he spent "a great deal of time" discussing the matter with the board of trustees, faculty, students, alumni "and Coach Fitzgerald himself."

Fitzgerald, who'd served as head coach of the Big Ten program since 2006, had the backing of a large portion of the team, which released a letter supporting Fitzgerald and calling the hazing claims "exaggerated and twisted" on Saturday.

"During the investigation, 11 current or former football student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing within the football program," Schill wrote. "In new media reporting today, still more former Northwestern football student-athletes confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years. This has never been about one former student-athlete and his motives; this is much bigger than that."

Schill said he only recently learned the complainant's identity because the investigation had been confidential.

Northwestern did not announce an interim coach. Schill wrote that "in the days ahead," the athletic department "will announce the leadership for this upcoming football season."

On Friday, after the two-week suspension was announced, Fitzgerald said in a statement that he was unaware of the alleged hazing incidents. The ex-player who came forward told media outlets that Fitzgerald "absolutely knew" of the incidents.

"Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university," Fitzgerald said in his statement. "We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward."

Fitzgerald was previously a two-time consensus All-American linebacker at Northwestern. He was 110-101 with 10 bowl appearances (5-5 record) in 17 seasons as head coach of his alma mater.

The Wildcats are coming off a 1-11 record in 2022. They will open the 2023 season at Rutgers on Sept. 3.

--Field Level MediaNorthwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid the continued fallout of a controversy surrounding alleged hazing within the program.

The decision comes three days after Fitzgerald received a two-week suspension without pay following an independent investigation that found hazing allegations were "largely supported by evidence."

A player then came forward to the student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, and revealed that some of the hazing included coerced sexual acts. Fitzgerald is also accused of presiding over a "culture of enabling racism."

University president Michael Schill wrote a letter to the Northwestern community Saturday night admitting that the school "may have erred" in the severity of its discipline. Schill then confirmed reports of Fitzgerald's firing with another letter Monday evening.

"This afternoon, I informed Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald that he was being relieved of his duties effective immediately," Schill wrote Monday. "The decision comes after a difficult and complex evaluation of my original discipline decision imposed last week on Coach Fitzgerald for his failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program."

Schill said he spent "a great deal of time" discussing the matter with the board of trustees, faculty, students, alumni "and Coach Fitzgerald himself."

Fitzgerald, who'd served as head coach of the Big Ten program since 2006, had the backing of a large portion of the team, which released a letter supporting Fitzgerald and calling the hazing claims "exaggerated and twisted" on Saturday.

"During the investigation, 11 current or former football student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing within the football program," Schill wrote. "In new media reporting today, still more former Northwestern football student-athletes confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years. This has never been about one former student-athlete and his motives; this is much bigger than that."

Schill said he only recently learned the complainant's identity because the investigation had been confidential.

Northwestern did not announce an interim coach. Schill wrote that "in the days ahead," the athletic department "will announce the leadership for this upcoming football season."

On Friday, after the two-week suspension was announced, Fitzgerald said in a statement that he was unaware of the alleged hazing incidents. The ex-player who came forward told media outlets that Fitzgerald "absolutely knew" of the incidents.

"Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university," Fitzgerald said in his statement. "We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward."

Fitzgerald was previously a two-time consensus All-American linebacker at Northwestern. He was 110-101 with 10 bowl appearances (5-5 record) in 17 seasons as head coach of his alma mater.

The Wildcats are coming off a 1-11 record in 2022. They will open the 2023 season at Rutgers on Sept. 3.

--Field Level Media

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