Northwestern University fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald after a hazing scandal shrouded the program and ultimately called his leadership into question. Another report from former players of color stated that the coach enabled a racist culture.
On Monday, University president Michael H. Schill wrote an open letter to the university community on why he fired the decorated coach.
“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 stated.
On Friday, the university initially moved to suspend Fitzgerald after a six-month confidential investigation revealed that hazing had occurred among players in the football program but that “there was no direct evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of the hazing.”
The investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey of the ArentFox Schiff law firm, concluded that it did not find “sufficient evidence that the Northwestern coaching staff knew about the hazing, but the inquiry concluded there were “significant opportunities” for them to find out what was going on.
Fitzgerald released a statement obtained by ESPN that he and Northwestern University came to a mutual agreement regarding his two-week suspension based on the results of Hickey’s investigation, calling his firing an “unexpected turn of events.”
“Therefore, I was surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment.”
Fitzgerald also said he has directed his agent and attorney to “take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.”
In that same statement, he reaffirmed that he did not know any hazing occurring within the program.
Allegations of Hazing and Racism
However, The Daily Northwestern, the university’s newspaper, published a story on Saturday where a former football player detailed hazing rituals that involved “coerced sexualized acts” and that Fitzgerald “may have known that hazing took place.”
On Monday, The Daily also published a report where three former Northwestern players accused the program of having a racist environment.
In that article, an anonymous player mentioned an incident where Fitzgerald asked Black Northwestern football players to cut off their dreadlocks or longer hairstyles to adhere to the “Wildcat Way.” Yet, that player also revealed that White players with longer hairstyles were not asked to do the same.
Fitzgerald’s firing finalizes a rapid and steep fall for a football coach once considered a darling in college and NFL coaching circles. He was deemed a homegrown success, having starred as a linebacker at Northwestern in the 1990s and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
In recent years, including this one, Fitzgerald has seen several former Northwestern players be selected in the NFL draft and enjoy successful pro careers. After inking a 10-year, $57 million contract extension in 2021, he was one of the nation’s more job-secure college football coaches.
When news of Fitzgerald’s initial suspension broke, a letter signed by the “The ENTIRE Northwestern Football Team” defended its coach, calling the hazing allegations “exaggerated and twisted.”
“Throughout his tenure, Coach Fitzgerald has consistently prioritized the well-being and development of his players, and we stand behind him in his unwavering commitment to our team,” stated the letter.
In his letter, Schill mentioned Fitzgerald’s contributions to Northwestern football and admitted that his decision to terminate him might not be popular.
“However, as much as Coach Fitzgerald has meant to our institution and our student-athletes, we have an obligation — in fact, a responsibility — to live by our values, even when it means making difficult and painful decisions such as this one. We must move forward.”
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