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Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is largely considered one of the better college football coaches in the nations.
The Wildcats don’t have nearly the same resources as most of the country’s power programs and yet Fitzgerald has led his alma mater to three 10-win seasons and a pair of Big Ten West division championships.
In recent years, however, Northwestern has upped its investment into the football program. But the results have not yet followed. The Wildcats went 7-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and finished No. 10 in the nation.
Since then, things have been dark. Fitzgerald won just three games in 2021 and bottomed out this past season with just one win.
But things could be about to get much, much worse for the program and its head coach.
Northwestern University Investigating Hazing Allegations In Football Program
The university issued a statement to ESPN on Wednesday that it was investigating a hazing allegation that came following the 2022 season.
“While we do not yet know whether the allegations are true, hazing is prohibited by university policy, and we take these claims seriously,” Northwestern’s statement read. “The health, safety and well-being of our students is the first priority. The inquiry is in its very early stages and will be rigorously fair to everyone in this process. It will focus on gathering facts and will not jump to conclusions. Northwestern strongly supports members of our community who come forward with concerns and encourages anyone to report those concerns to the university.” – via ESPN
The report did not discuss details allegation. It also did not state whether the allegation came from a player or a coach. But it’s a bad look for a program that isn’t producing results on the field.
The 1-11 season what Northwestern’s worse since going 0-11 in 1989. Somehow, however, this feels even worse for the Wildcats and their fans.