Looks like Joe Pa was fired again based on innuendo, oops, sorry, that was Pat Fitzgerald. Imagine if he was winning 10+ games every year and big money bowl games, seems like an easy way to get rid of him and start over, Northwestern will never be a major football power. Who would want the job?
Pat Fitzgerald
- Thread starter psulongago
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Northwestern fires Pat Fitzgerald as football coach after allegations of hazing within program
Recent developments spelled the end of Fitzgerald's 17-year tenure in Evanston.
247sports.com
Coerced sexual acts? That ain't goodNorthwestern fires Pat Fitzgerald as football coach after allegations of hazing within program
Recent developments spelled the end of Fitzgerald's 17-year tenure in Evanston.
In today's world it was inevitable that he would be run out. The "Culture Wars" divide our nation. Both sides deplore the idea- yet both sides seem to eagerly participate when there is an opening. Any one of hazing, "sexual nature", racism would be a problem. Allegations of all three- whether real or just perceived- makes him poison.
Northwestern is building a fancy new facility in part on Fitzgerald's back. At least whomever takes over will have that to market along with the academics of an elite university (if that's even a consideration anymore). Stanford, Vandy, and NW have had some tough sledding of late- as NIL and transfering for playing/systems appears to override the edication component of "student athlete." Rven teams like Wake that are winning are losing players that they developed like Hartman to ND, Walker to MSU. There really will not be a place for these type of schools in the next phase of NCAA Football.
At the end of the day the top dog is usually held responsible for blunders- whether it be Papa John or the Marketing Director and Execs at Bud Light. It will be interesting to see where Fitz lands. My bet would be the Pros instead of trying to reinvent himself as a college coach. No network will touch him today. Last week and certainly last year, he may have had a future in the booth or on the set.
It is odd watching someone else's program blow up. I'm not feeling good or bad about it...just glad it's not us. Since they've fired him "with cause" it is likely that Fitz will sue and some sort of big settlement that nobody is able to disclose the details of will be reached. Will it be enough for Pat to walk away? We'll see.
Northwestern is building a fancy new facility in part on Fitzgerald's back. At least whomever takes over will have that to market along with the academics of an elite university (if that's even a consideration anymore). Stanford, Vandy, and NW have had some tough sledding of late- as NIL and transfering for playing/systems appears to override the edication component of "student athlete." Rven teams like Wake that are winning are losing players that they developed like Hartman to ND, Walker to MSU. There really will not be a place for these type of schools in the next phase of NCAA Football.
At the end of the day the top dog is usually held responsible for blunders- whether it be Papa John or the Marketing Director and Execs at Bud Light. It will be interesting to see where Fitz lands. My bet would be the Pros instead of trying to reinvent himself as a college coach. No network will touch him today. Last week and certainly last year, he may have had a future in the booth or on the set.
It is odd watching someone else's program blow up. I'm not feeling good or bad about it...just glad it's not us. Since they've fired him "with cause" it is likely that Fitz will sue and some sort of big settlement that nobody is able to disclose the details of will be reached. Will it be enough for Pat to walk away? We'll see.
His lawyers responded to all of this last night saying they felt there was a binding deal that was reached last week and they will be fighting this.
FWIT, I'm not a big fan "it starts with the Head Coach, it ends with the HC," stuff. I get it, making the big bucks and the top man on the totem poll, you're supposed to know everything. Kind of reminiscent of JoePa no? "He should have known" "He was the most powerful person on that campus." There is still a place in sports where the the coaches give players some latitude and ownership. As was stated, Fitz told the players the locker room was "theirs." This feels a lot like that kid who made these claims against some of the PSU guys(Micah being one). School/Franklin were pretty firm in denying it.
The longer one stays at any one organization the more enemies one has.
agreed. how in the world can NW fire the HC for not knowing yet to promote the DC to interim HC?
BTW, the baseball coach was fired as well.
Northwestern Baseball Coach Jim Foster accused of creating “abusive” environment, causing transfers
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Northwestern Baseball Coach Jim Foster created an “abusive” environment in NU’s baseball program. The coach has been at NU for one year, and fifteen players are currently in the transfer portal to leave the baseball team. Some experts are predicting the...
dailynorthwestern.com
Northwestern likely will be doing a lot of 1-11 and 2-10 type seasons going forward.
Curious about Pat's politics? In today's day and age, it's a factor.
Fair point. There are 2 different justice systems these days and I suspect that politically motivated decisions are even more the rule at a university.
Is it the racist culture and sexual abuse that are leading you to believe what party he was in favor of?
Big difference between corroborated and uncorroborated claims, as evidenced by the actions taken in each case.
The School President did not do anything about the hazing either. The School President should have known....he must be let go.
The new President at NW showed that he is a coward. Made an agreement with the coach and then withdrew the offer. How can anyone trust that the President will not do whatever he needs to do to protect himself at the expense of anyone that reports to him........ He had data, made an offer which was accepted. A little heat gets brought to his feet and he caves. if the data suggested that Pat should have been fired.....do it upfront, the data seemed to have suggested a minor penalty with the promise of cleaning some things up.
My issue is with the offer of a 2 game suspension, then with no other new information changes his mind in order to call off the dogs.
The new President at NW showed that he is a coward. Made an agreement with the coach and then withdrew the offer. How can anyone trust that the President will not do whatever he needs to do to protect himself at the expense of anyone that reports to him........ He had data, made an offer which was accepted. A little heat gets brought to his feet and he caves. if the data suggested that Pat should have been fired.....do it upfront, the data seemed to have suggested a minor penalty with the promise of cleaning some things up.
My issue is with the offer of a 2 game suspension, then with no other new information changes his mind in order to call off the dogs.
No coach has ever been universally loved. Players only love you when they're playin......
This is where details matter. Things involving hazing, the sexual nature or right out. There Hass to be zero tolerance to that. Now, depending on what exactly happened with these racial complaints, it could be benign to serious.
My brother-in-law is black, and he jokingly asked me when did disrespect become a verb. He’s a very intelligent man and a high-ranking executives, and he talks what some would call “white”.
Or was he making racial criticisms? I could see someone trying to help correct somebody’s mannerisms and speech patterns if for some reason you came from the deep south. Talking redneck does not work in a corporate we’re all in one example.
Either way, it was enough to get him fired.
There has always been 2 justice systems in this country. Most of the people on this board denied that fact. Always have great advice like follow police officers request be compliant. You must have done something to be pulled over blah blah. Now these same people are crying about two justice systems. Give me a break.
I totally agree. but this is what the press does. Clearly there was some level of hazing. The media uses this to red or blue pill the issue. Then they introduce the sexual stories that have NOT been corroborated and assume they are correct.
First, coaches aren't present for most practices due to NCAA practice time restrictions. So a coach can't know what goes on during these events. Second, what level of "hazing" is acceptable? Hell, Fr students get hazed by upperclass-persons without sports.
What is shameful is that a good guy and good coach, one that stayed at NW turning down my more lucrative offers to support the student first model in B1G athletics, is now being thrown under the bus because his president couldn't stand the pressure of his two week suspension when the press started to ask questions. A simple answer should be "we did a six month investigation. we found hazing that was unacceptable but the coaching staff was not aware. As a result, we have suspended the coach two weeks and are putting into place fail--safes to make sure hazing doesn't happen again."
Don't forget, their baseball coach got fired days before. My belief is that it is the President who should have been aware as NW seems to be tainted systematically.
Honestly, the president is trying to cover his/her ass. He/she are firing anyone who might threaten the president's reputation. That is what is going on here.
Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster under fire for ‘bullying, abusive behavior’
Yet another Northwestern University sports program is being accused of creating a toxic environment.
nypost.com
Odds are you will never know the truth.I totally agree. but this is what the press does. Clearly there was some level of hazing. The media uses this to red or blue pill the issue. Then they introduce the sexual stories that have NOT been corroborated and assume they are correct.
First, coaches aren't present for most practices due to NCAA practice time restrictions. So a coach can't know what goes on during these events. Second, what level of "hazing" is acceptable? Hell, Fr students get hazed by upperclass-persons without sports.
What is shameful is that a good guy and good coach, one that stayed at NW turning down my more lucrative offers to support the student first model in B1G athletics, is now being thrown under the bus because his president couldn't stand the pressure of his two week suspension when the press started to ask questions. A simple answer should be "we did a six month investigation. we found hazing that was unacceptable but the coaching staff was not aware. As a result, we have suspended the coach two weeks and are putting into place fail--safes to make sure hazing doesn't happen again."
Don't forget, their baseball coach got fired days before. My belief is that it is the President who should have been aware as NW seems to be tainted systematically.
Honestly, the president is trying to cover his/her ass. He/she are firing anyone who might threaten the president's reputation. That is what is going on here.
Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster under fire for ‘bullying, abusive behavior’
Yet another Northwestern University sports program is being accused of creating a toxic environment.
However if enough people can corroborate that the coach knew. My friend who has investigated multiple CSA cases, has said every single case that involve the school, church, business, or charity was at least initially covered up. And more people knew that was initially admit it.
This is the reality of these cases, people tend to know more than they will admit to.
The president who has been on the job for 10 months and was working in Oregon for the previous 7 years?
You don't know the situation nor all the facts. Although maybe you should contact Fitz and offer to be his PR guy because you clearly love him and are convinced it is "a nothing to see here" situation. Simultaneously you are convinced the school President is incompetent and doing nothing but covering his butt. Okay.I totally agree. but this is what the press does. Clearly there was some level of hazing. The media uses this to red or blue pill the issue. Then they introduce the sexual stories that have NOT been corroborated and assume they are correct.
First, coaches aren't present for most practices due to NCAA practice time restrictions. So a coach can't know what goes on during these events. Second, what level of "hazing" is acceptable? Hell, Fr students get hazed by upperclass-persons without sports.
What is shameful is that a good guy and good coach, one that stayed at NW turning down my more lucrative offers to support the student first model in B1G athletics, is now being thrown under the bus because his president couldn't stand the pressure of his two week suspension when the press started to ask questions. A simple answer should be "we did a six month investigation. we found hazing that was unacceptable but the coaching staff was not aware. As a result, we have suspended the coach two weeks and are putting into place fail--safes to make sure hazing doesn't happen again."
Don't forget, their baseball coach got fired days before. My belief is that it is the President who should have been aware as NW seems to be tainted systematically.
Honestly, the president is trying to cover his/her ass. He/she are firing anyone who might threaten the president's reputation. That is what is going on here.
Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster under fire for ‘bullying, abusive behavior’
Yet another Northwestern University sports program is being accused of creating a toxic environment.
So if the president should have known which is a ridiculous stretch then Fitzy also should have known?? I assume the answer to that is yes then he gets canned. And then you can the Prez and that makes you more satisfied? Look the university President is not going to know the inner culture and hazing type crap that is going on in the football program. Heck the AD is not going to know. Did they fire the PSU prez when it was discovered Beta Beta Theta Pi fraternity was hazing through excessive alcohol consumption of its pledges that resulted in death? This is Fitzgerald's responsibility and he failed at it. He was aware and got nailed. He thought he was untouchable there and guess what, he ain't.
I believe the arguement you made against Fitz was that the guy at the top has responsibility.
Well, as I pointed out, NW's baseball coach also was accused. So, if you are going to be consistent, you need to be calling for the president of NW to be fired because, even if he didn't know, he should have known.
Right?
We arguably did have a dual justice system in this country. But things have changed. Our justice system today is nothing but a captured asset of the ruling class, whose sole purpose is to rubber stamp whatever narrative the elite is putting forth.
I was at PSU from the 1983 season when we were coming off our first championship through the 1987 season when I finished by extra semester.
This may have been the heyday of PSU football. JoePa was reaching iconic status. We were winning, players were getting to bask in the glory of Success With Honor, and still the majority of players maybe didn't "hate" Paterno, but they didn't yet "love" him either.
Tolerance is probably the right word. Later, when they "grew up", most may have appreciated him more/ "loved" him. I often get similar reviews from my students. Being an authority figure is not always easy.
Such is the way of the world.
Yes. The stretch that the football coach should know, but not the defensive coordinator, the AD, The President seems like a very specific remedy to a perceived problem.
Yeah, if all true definitely grounds for dismissal. But didn't the law firm turn any of this up with the initial investigation? Why did the serious stuff come out in the student newspaper?
Also strange that they retained current assistants, but in my opinion that is part of the culture a HC is responsible for....making it clear to assistants and other coaches to report this kind of behavior, at least to him. Some have said the HC can't always be there, but no way the players are alone and running their own practices. Someone had to know and if that's the case Fitz is responsible for culture/relationship he has with those coaches.
Also strange that they retained current assistants, but in my opinion that is part of the culture a HC is responsible for....making it clear to assistants and other coaches to report this kind of behavior, at least to him. Some have said the HC can't always be there, but no way the players are alone and running their own practices. Someone had to know and if that's the case Fitz is responsible for culture/relationship he has with those coaches.
In one of the articles out there an unidentified insider " person with knowledge of the situation" who it seemed was in the Athletic Department was quoted as saying that " the stadium project probably doesn't get finished without Fitz," and that this situation "will set the program back 30 years."
I'm not a big fan of anonymous/ off the record sources in journalism, but whomever is saying that is probably correct. Fitz will get his money in a settlement minus a hefty legal bill. The Northwestern President will can the AD, but ultimately not last too long himself.
My sister worked for The Medill School at NW for a few years. It is not a place that revolves around athletics. It will be interesting to see how many of their players stay with the program.
Winds of change off of Lake Michigan. If it is indeed 30 years, I'll be deceased before they are relevant again. Wow.
I'm not a big fan of anonymous/ off the record sources in journalism, but whomever is saying that is probably correct. Fitz will get his money in a settlement minus a hefty legal bill. The Northwestern President will can the AD, but ultimately not last too long himself.
My sister worked for The Medill School at NW for a few years. It is not a place that revolves around athletics. It will be interesting to see how many of their players stay with the program.
Winds of change off of Lake Michigan. If it is indeed 30 years, I'll be deceased before they are relevant again. Wow.
Actually, stopping the Stadium Expansion may have been the motivation behind this attack on Firtz and his program.... See the following hotlink:
Group of Northwestern professors seeks halt to Ryan Field project amid Fitzgerald fallout
In my SEPA twang the word "Y'all" was one I grew up saying and continue to do so today. However, when I was a young Ad Guy in NYC my boss chastised me for talking "like a hick" and said that I sounded like I was from "Alabama." She made it clear that it was not apprpriate client talk.
The problem was that she was from Long Island and spoke with an extremely thick accent of denizens from that part of the world. Out of her mouth came the words " Al-eh- bammm-er" and she was from "Lawn-GUY-lend."
She grew up down the street from Boomer Esiason, and claims that he used to throw rocks at her. Maybe that is how he got such a strong and accurate arm?
What is the difference between corporate/media training and "whitewashing" one's cultural identity? I'm not sure if there is a good answer for that anymore.
I don't think this case should be equated with Paterno. Paterno was fired because of horrific charges against an ex-assistant coach involving abuse of high school boys in the Lasch building. Paterno was never accused of player abuse or racism. I think his record of professionalism as far as coaching the team remains unblemished. He did at times seem to lose control of player behavior in his later years, and the decline in the program's performance on the field toward the end are well documented, but there were never accusations against Paterno anything like what's being leveled against Fitz this week.
I have had maybe 4 or 5 speeding tickets but no other offenses in my lifetime. My observation about there being 2 different justice systems is not what I have personally experienced. It is the offenses we've seen reported within the political class and celebrities that have 100% convinced me of there being 2 different justice systems.
There are an equal number if not greater of folks who hate athletics....players and coaches who seem to live privileged lives. They revel in this sort of mayhem. I'm sure the Academics at NW quietly simmered watching all the monies being spent on football facilities and Fitz living like a crown prince. PSU isn't the only place that has a Vicki Triponey.
right. for every starter, there are three other kids that were passed over and thought they should have started. I never played college ball but I know a LOT of kids that hated our football coach. Sometimes they hated him for just making us run sprints at the end of practice to get in shape. he is a good guy but once grabbed me by the facemask and threw me into a defender because he was mad I wasn't working hard enough during practice. Another made us head butt the tackling machine to show us how to a) keep our heads up and b) to inflict damage on the opponent. These actions would be damning evidence against a HC.
I wonder if the academic contingent at NW will cause the school to de-emphasize sports.
Well, not to be lost in this mess, the NW baseball coach is in deep doodoo. with pending legal action pending, they may well see an exodus of players through the portal. Football, for example, is just a few weeks away from camp. The interim HC is a new hire who was DC at North Dakota State. The point is that this guy has not be a HC, at least not at a program anywhere near the complexity of NW. There are a lot of questions about player safety in a program currently being managed by a) the same staff and b) an inexperienced HC.
The president and DC totally mismanaged the situation and now lots of people are asking questions. many will soon be filing lawsuits. the new stadium is at risk. Professors are now urging the staff to release the investigation results.
Northwestern Professors Urge University Officials to Halt $800M Stadium Amid Football Hazing Scandal
“Over the past decade, Northwestern has made major and high-profile investments in athletics. But disturbing evidence of harassment and abuse — and high-level efforts to minimize those problems — suggest that we need to get the existing house in order before expanding it,” six university...
