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Northwestern fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid a slew of allegations against his program. Hazing claims combined with allegedly cultivating a culture that enabled racism proved too much for the 17-year Wildcats leader to overcome.
After initially receiving a two-week suspension, Fitzgerald was relieved of his duties as pressure mounted against administration. Many, however, are now questioning that decision.
Much of that has to do with the investigation findings, which state that Fitzgerald was never proven to have known about the hazing accusations.
In a Northwestern press release, the school unveiled the findings of the investigation. That report says, “Eleven current or former football student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been going on within the football program.”
It would later go on to state, “The hazing was well-known by many in the program, though the investigator failed to find any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald himself knew about it.”
That failure to prove knowledge of the situation led many in the college football world to react to the firing online.
Want to make sure I have this Northwestern story correct:
*Player reports grotesque hazing to the school
*The school immediately hires an outside firm to launch the investigation
*Search firm finds the head coach didn’t knowThe head coach gets fired… what am I missing? pic.twitter.com/v6awYAhpAZ
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) July 10, 2023
Following the dismissal, Pat Fitzgerald released a statement of his own, which laid out his legal strategy moving forward.
In that release, the head coach says that he discussed the allegations with the school on the Friday prior, with each side coming to a “mutual agreement” on an appropriate punishment. Fast forward to Monday, and he’s out of a job.
“I was surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment.
“Given the unexpected turn of events, I have entrusted my agent… and legal counsel… to take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.”
With nothing having changed between his initial suspension and firing, other than public outrage, Fitzgerald may have a case.
Fitzgerald‘s legal strategy is fully understandable. Northwestern essentially fired him with the same information it had on Friday. What changed besides the details getting out? Investigations lead to firings, but rarely after they initially end with two-week summer suspensions. https://t.co/mBEjfd8FCS
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 11, 2023
It will be interesting to see how things unfold in Evanston.