Pat Fitzgerald has been the embodiment of Northwestern football for almost 26 years. Starting with his playing days which culminated in Northwestern’s first Rose Bowl appearance since 1949, continuing with five years as an assistant coach and then 17 as head coach, Fitzgerald has been far and away the most successful Wildcat in the program’s history.
His tenure ended abruptly Monday with this firing by university president Michael Schill in the wake of a hazing scandal that allegedly involved “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values,” according to the university.
The firing followed an unusual about-face by the president, who just days earlier announced that Fitzpatrick would be sanctioned by only a two-week suspension without pay, based on Fitzpatrick’s denial of any knowledge of the hazing program.
But in an open letter to the Northwestern community, Schill wrote “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.”
Fitzgerald issued a statement to ESPN expressing “surprise” that the university had “unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment.
“Our program instilled in young men the qualities to become outstanding husbands, fathers, and valuable contributors to society,” the statement asserts. “Our players were well-prepared to make a positive impact in the world, and I am confident in the success we achieved together.”
Fitzgerald also announced that he has retained high-powered (and politically-connected) attorney Dan Webb to “protect my rights in accordance with the law.”
Northwestern fans reacted with a combination of shock and disappointment.
Tracey Garland Ward of DeKalb wrote on the Daily Northwestern’s Facebook page: “So disappointed. NU is a world class academic University. I don’t get it. Why would he permit this to happen? The racism allegations! He, NU have such an opportunity to improve humans, men and women. I am sad for athletes that are hurting because of all of this.”
Others were more scathing.
Kari Ellis on Twitter: “How can he even say this. And if he didn’t know all this , then he didn’t have any control of HIS team.”
Tom Gardner on Twitter; “Isn’t it a bigger indictment that he “had no knowledge “ of hazing?”
But it’s likely that the majority of Northwestern fans had their feelings summed up with the most frequent post on social media: “I’m so sad.”
