Northwestern University fires football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid hazing scandal

Northwestern University fired coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid a hazing scandal that questioned his leadership of the program and damaged the university’s reputation after it mishandled its response to the allegations.

Fitzgerald’s firing completed a swift fall from grace for the former All-American linebacker, star of the 1995 Northwestern team that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl after years of losing. Fitzgerald, 48, was firmly entrenched in his alma mater, an annual fixture on any list of college coaches with the most job security.

“The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team,” Northwestern president Michael Schill wrote in an open letter to the university community. “The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly no secret within the program, giving Coach Fitzgerald a chance to learn what was happening. Anyway, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was in others broken ways.”

Fitzgerald went 110-101 in 17 seasons as Northwestern’s head coach. He led the Wildcats to Big Ten West championships in 2018 and 2020, plus five bowl wins. But they went 4-20 over his last two seasons.

Schill wrote in his letter that athletic director Derrick Gragg will announce “the leadership for this upcoming football season” in the coming days. The opener is September 3 at Rutgers.

“I recognize that my decision will not be universally applauded, and there will be those in our community who vehemently disagree,” Schill wrote. “Ultimately, I am charged with acting in the best interest of the entire university, and this decision reflects that. The damage done to our institution is significant, as is the damage suffered by some of our students.”

Gragg was hired by Northwestern in June 2021. He got the job after Mike Polisky resigned amid growing criticism for being named in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Big Ten school by former Wildcats cheerleaders.

Fitzgerald had served a two-week suspension after the school said Friday that an investigation by a law firm found no “sufficient” evidence that coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing — though there were “considerable opportunities” to find out.

Schill, who was the president of the University of Oregon before acquiring Northwestern in September, said in his Monday letter that ArentFox Schiff’s report will remain confidential. But he wrote that during the study, 11 current or former players acknowledged hazing within the program.

“The hazing involved forced participation, nudity, and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwest policies and values,” Schill wrote.

After Northwestern announced the suspension for Fitzgerald, The Daily Northwestern on Saturday published a story with allegations from a former player detailing specific instances of hazing and sexual abuse. The report also indicated that Fitzgerald “may have been aware that hazing was taking place”.

That prompted Schill to write a letter to the university community acknowledging that he was “focusing too much on what the report concluded [Fitzgerald] didn’t and didn’t know enough about what he should have known.” Schill went on to say he planned to speak with university leaders, members of the board of trustees and faculty senate leaders to determine his next steps.

“Since Friday, I’ve kept going back to what we can reasonably expect from our head coaches, our faculty, and our campus leaders,” Schill wrote in Monday’s letter. “And that’s why I made this decision.”

Because the six-month investigation was confidential, Schill said in Monday’s letter that he had recently learned many of the details. He spoke to the complainant on Sunday after speaking to the student’s parents on Friday.

Fitzgerald, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008, was hired to coach his alma mater in 2006 following the sudden death of then-coach Randy Walker.

Many current and former players rushed to Fitzgerald’s defense after the suspension was announced.

A letter circulating on social media, signed by “The ENTIRE Northwestern Football Team” without identifying an author, said that “Coach Fitzgerald has consistently prioritized the well-being and development of his players throughout his tenure, and we stand behind him in his unwavering dedication to our team.”

Before Fitzgerald’s firing was announced by the school, The Daily Northwestern published a report in which three former Northwestern players described a “culture of enabling racism”.

The turmoil within the football program comes after the school unveiled plans to build a new Ryan Field in September. The plans call for a state-of-the-art facility with fewer seats and more emphasis on the fan experience.