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Pat Fitzgerald’s time as the head coach of the Northwestern football team has come to an end, the school announced 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,” Northwestern president Michael Schill said in a statement.
Fitzgerald released a statement following the announcement, indicating he could take legal action:
Pete Thamel @PeteThamel
Statement attached from former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to ESPN, which includes that he’s hired a high-profile attorney to “take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.” Fitzgerald: “I was surprised when I learned that the president of… pic.twitter.com/zPNTAkr2xn
ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the Big Ten school’s decision to fire the coach.
Northwestern had already suspended him for two weeks following an investigation into hazing within the program. The school announced the suspension Friday, explaining the punishment came “following the completion of an independent investigation into allegations received after the end of the 2022 season.”
Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic shared some of the school’s press release:
Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbach
Northwestern says the report into hazing will remain confidential, despite calls for full transparency. Press release announcing Fitz’s firing includes these bullet points: pic.twitter.com/s2LAe7q8sA
The initial suspension announcement included a number of other measures to be put in place following the independent investigation.
Among those was the suspension of training camps in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the monitoring of the locker room by someone not affiliated with the coaching staff. What’s more, Northwestern said it would use a new hazing reporting tool and implement mandatory anti-hazing training for all coaches, staff members and student-athletes.
Nicole Markus, Alyce Brown, Cole Reynolds and Divya Bhardwaj of the Daily Northwestern released a notable report on July 8 that stemmed from conversations with a former Wildcats football player.
According to the report, the former player said “some of the hazing conduct investigated by the university involved coerced sexual acts” and that Fitzgerald may have been aware of the hazing.
The player said a practice called “running” was central to much of the hazing. As part of “running,” players who made mistakes were “restrained by a group of eight-10 upperclassmen dressed in various ‘Purge-like’ masks, who would then begin ‘dry-humping’ the victim in a dark locker room.”
The player also said Fitzgerald made hand signals that indicated he was aware of the practice.
“It’s done under this smoke and mirror of ‘oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the player said.
Other activities that allegedly took place included freshmen being forced to bear crawl while naked, naked center-quarterback exchanges, and something called “the carwash,” in which “players would stand naked at the entrance to the showers and spin around, forcing those entering the showers to ‘basically (rub) up against a bare-naked man.'”
Markus, Brown and Reynolds of the Daily Northwestern also spoke to three other players who described a “culture of enabling racism” within the football program that stemmed from coaches and players.
“There was a certain culture of enabling racism and other microaggressions that I had to experience and that other offensive linemen that were people of color had to experience,” one player said.
One of the players said Fitzgerald would consistently ask Black players but not white players to cut their long hair to better follow the “Wildcat Way.”
Ramon Diaz Jr., who was an offensive lineman for Northwestern from 2005 to 2008, said a coach told one of his teammates who was Black to stop wearing his hat the way he was because he “wasn’t in the hood anymore.” The coach also said the player walked in a “gangster” fashion.
Northwestern football players responded to some of the reports by releasing a statement, which ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg tweeted, that said the allegations were “exaggerated and twisted”:
Adam Rittenberg @ESPNRittenberg
Statement from Northwestern’s entire team pushing back against the allegations of hazing, which they call “exaggerated and twisted.” They also say coach Pat Fitzgerald had no knowledge or involvement in the allegations. pic.twitter.com/lMOAgCe0EB
“It is crucial to note that our Head Coach, Pat Fitzgerald, was not involved in any of the alleged incidents in any way, shape, or form,” the statement reads, in part. “Coach Fitzgerald had no knowledge of these allegations until they were brought to his attention during the investigations. Throughout his tenure, Coach Fitzgerald has consistently prioritized the well-being of his players, and we stand behind him in his unwavering commitment to our team.”
Yet Schill said Saturday he “may have erred” in issuing the initial suspension:
Nicole Markus @nicolejmarkus
Here’s the full statement from University Pres. Michael Schill. https://t.co/4iKmUMsEQk pic.twitter.com/Ti2oOG0Lo1
A former player told Rittenberg, “Fitz absolutely knew about hazing in this program. 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.”
Fitzgerald played at Northwestern as a linebacker from 1994 through 1996 and was arguably the best player in program history as a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and two-time consensus All-American.
Given that background, he was a celebrated hire for the Wildcats.
However, this is an unceremonious end following 17 years at the helm. Northwestern went 110-101 during his tenure and reached 10 bowl games, appearing in the Big Ten championship game in 2018 and 2020. The school has been to just six bowl games in program history without him as the head coach.
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