Northwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald

Northwestern has fired coach Pat Fitzgerald amid allegations of misconduct involving the football program, the school announced Monday.

Fitzgerald’s firing comes after the school announced Friday that he would be suspended without pay for two weeks this summer following the conclusion of a university investigation into allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower.

The school reversed course Saturday after the campus newspaper reported the new allegations, and university president Michael Schill said in a letter to the Northwestern community that he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction” for Fitzgerald.

In a statement announcing Fitzgerald’s firing Monday, Schill said, “The decision comes after a difficult and complex review of my initial disciplinary decision last week against Coach Fitzgerald for not knowing and preventing significant disruption to the football program. 72 hours, I have spent a lot of time thinking and conversations with people who love our university – our board chair and members, faculty leadership, students, alumni, and Coach Fitzgerald. I’ve also received many calls, texts and emails from people I know and people I don’t know, sharing their thoughts.

“While I appreciate the feedback and took it into account in my decision-making, the decision to suspend Coach Fitzgerald in the first place was mine and mine alone, as was the decision to fire him.”

Fitzgerald went 110–101 in 17 seasons and is by far the winningest football coach in school history with more wins (110) than anyone else at the school.

He spent a total of more than 26 seasons with the program – four as a player, five as an assistant and 17 as a head coach. He also led the school to five of its six bowl wins in program history, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Northwestern has five 10-win seasons in program history, and Fitzgerald has been involved in four of them – three as a coach and one as a player.

Fitzgerald’s tenure unraveled after a former player, who has since transferred, reported the program’s shady practices to the school. A former player, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Daily Northwestern that there was sexualized undercover activity in the team’s locker room. One common practice, called “the run,” involved restraining a younger player while 8-10 older players engaged in a sexualized act in the locker room.

“As a freshman, it’s a nerve-wracking experience to see your freshman teammates run, but then you see everyone in the locker room on the sidelines,” the former player told The Daily Northwestern. “It’s just a really cutthroat and barbaric culture that has permeated the entire program for years.”

Northwestern stated that “there had been significant opportunities to detect and report” hazing activity. But investigators were unable to find enough evidence to show the coaches were aware of the shady activity, Schill reiterated in a statement Monday.

“Many in the program sensed a cover-up, even though the investigator found no credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald knew about it,” Schill wrote. “Because the entire six-month independent investigation was confidential, I only recently learned many details, including the identity of the complainant. I spoke to his parents on Friday and the student on Sunday.”

Fitzgerald, 48, has two years left on a 10-year, $57 million contract, and there has been no indication yet of the potential financial ramifications of his dismissal.

If Fitzgerald had coached this season, he would become the fifth-longest active coach in FBS football.