Northwestern Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald Fired Amid Hazing Claims

By Brian Jones

Pat Fitzgerald will no longer be with the Northwestern football team. On Monday, Northwestern fired Fitzgerald as its head coach amid allegations of hazing within the football program. The news comes a few days after Northwestern announced Fitzgerald has been suspended with pay for two weeks following the conclusion of an investigation into allegations made by a former Northwestern player.

"The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team," university president Michael Schill wrote in an open letter to the school community. "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 said the investigation, which began in January and was conducted by an outside law firm, did not find "sufficient" evidence the coaching staff knew about the hazing. On Saturday night, The Daily Northwestern published a story that detailed allegations from the former player, who described instances of hazing and sexual abuse. That led to Shcill writing the open letter and making the decision to fire Fitzgerald. 

"I have kept going back to what we should reasonably expect from our head coaches, our faculty and our campus leaders," Schill wrote. "And that is what led me to make this decision. The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team. 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."

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In a statement to ESPN, Fitzgerald said he was "surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment. He also said his agent, and attorney will "take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law."

Fitzgerald was two years into a 10-year, $57 million contract. He has been with the Northwestern Wildcats since 2001 when he was a defensive backs coach. Fitzgerald, who played linebacker for Northwestern, was named head coach in 2006 and posted a 110-101 record with two Big Ten West Division titles and five bowl wins. 

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