Northwestern University on Monday fired Pat Fitzgerald, its longtime head football coach, after an investigation found that his players engaged in widespread hazing, including forced stripping and sexual acts.
His firing came three days after the university said Fitzgerald, who had been the Wildcats’ head coach since 2006, would be suspended for two weeks without pay after an investigation found the hazing allegations credible.
Michael Schill, Northwestern’s president, said in a statement that the decision to fire Fitzgerald, 48, came “after a difficult and complex evaluation” of his initial discipline and after discussions with the board of trustees. , students, alumni and Fitzgerald.
“The decision to originally suspend Coach Fitzgerald was mine and mine alone, as was the decision to part ways with him,” Schill said.
The announcement of the firing came after The Daily Northwestern reported Saturday that a player, who asked not to be identified by the paper, accused the players of punishing mostly freshmen with a sexual act that involving almost 10 teammates holding back a young player. On Monday, the Daily Northwestern also reported that three former football players said there was a racist culture in the football program.
Fitzgerald, a Northwestern alumnus who played linebacker as an undergraduate, could not immediately be reached for comment, and his attorney did not immediately respond to a call or email seeking comment Monday night. But Fitzgerald told ESPN in a statement that he was “shocked” to learn that Schill had revoked their “mutual agreement” of a two-week suspension “without any prior notice and subsequently terminating my employment.”
He added that his agent and attorney “will take the necessary steps to protect my rights under the law.”
The university’s investigation, conducted by Maggie Hickey of the law firm ArentFox Schiff, was prompted by an anonymous complaint from a student-athlete in November 2022 and lasted six months. The investigation found no evidence that Fitzgerald knew about the hazing — although it was “known to most of the program,” Schill said.
Some players “believe hazing is a joke and harmless,” but others say it causes “great harm with long-term consequences,” according to the law firm’s investigation.
Schill said that, to his knowledge, “no student has suffered physical harm as a result of these behaviors.”
However, he said, the head coach is responsible for the team’s culture, and the investigation found that hazing was “widespread and clearly not a secret in the program, which gave Coach Fitzgerald an opportunity to find out what was going on.”
Fitzgerald was a pillar of the university’s football program, from his playing days as a linebacker when he helped the team reach the Rose Bowl, to his rise through the coaching ranks, later named 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He won five bowl games and had a 110-101 record as the team’s head coach. Last season, Northwestern went 1-11.