Getty Image / Paul Archuleta
It’s been a busy week for the Northwestern Wildcats as the football program just recently fired longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
They’re now searching for a new head coach and a report was floating around that former LSU coach Ed Orgeron was interested in the job.
Now, the former championship winning coach addresses those rumors.
According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Ed Orgeron is not actually interested in the Northwestern job. In fact, he claims nobody from the school has even contacted him.
Spoke to Ed Orgeron. There is no truth to the report that he has any interest in the Northwestern coaching job nor has he heard from anyone at Northwestern.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 13, 2023
With that said, the Wildcats are still in search of a new head coach. They may take their time to finalize a decision, as the program must go through a serious culture change.
Pat Fitzgerald was recently fired over alleged hazing rituals that were incredibly controversial. At first Fitzgerald was given a two week suspension, per 247 Sports.
But after two anonymous players shared their story, Northwestern president, Michael Schill, decided to fire Fitzgerald over the allegations.
He was the head coach of the program for the last 17 seasons. So, anybody the Wildcats hire must come in with some serious leadership skills.
As for Orgeron, he currently does not have a head coaching job anywhere. But his name still floats around the rumor mill from time to time.
There’s a chance he could be hired somewhere before the start of the 2023 season, but considering it’s already mid-July, it’s hard to imagine many programs searching for a new head coach.
One thing is for sure though, we can put the Ed Orgeron to Northwestern talks to bed.