Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired on Monday amid reports that players participated in hazing activities in the locker room last season, a person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
On Friday, the school announced that Fitzgerald was suspended for two weeks without pay, and it set forth guidelines after an independent investigation found hazing allegations credible. Fitzgerald said that he had no knowledge of hazing activities.
A former Northwestern football player then spoke to The Daily Northwestern, and in a story published Saturday, alleged that some of the hazing was sexual in nature, with upperclassmen punishing younger players who made mistakes in games and practices. The ritual was called “running.”
“It’s a shocking experience as a freshman to see your fellow freshman teammates get ran, but then you see everybody bystanding in the locker room,” the unidentified former player told The Daily Northwestern. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.”
Fitzgerald, 48, spent 17 seasons as the Wildcats’ head coach. He won five bowls and had three 10-win seasons, something virtually unheard of at Northwestern when he got the job before the 2006 season, after the death of head coach Randy Walker.
Fitzgerald is the winningest coach in the program’s history and had agreed to a 10-year contract extension with Northwestern through the 2030 season.
The Wildcats went 1-11 last season, ranking last in the Big 10 in scoring offense and turnover margin, and it was one of four FBS schools to win one game in 2022. Colorado, South Florida and UMass were the others.
Fitzgerald, who won the 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year award, finishes his Northwestern career with a 110-101 record. He also was a decorated player during with the Wildcats, winning two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards, and being named a consensus All-American in 1995 and 1996, leading Northwestern to a pair of conference championships and a Rose Bowl appearance.
