Northwestern Fires Coach Fitzgerald Over Hazing Scandal

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University has fired long-time football coach Pat Fitzgerald stemming from a hazing scandal which was detailed by the school’s student newspaper, the university confirmed early Monday evening.

In a tweet, Northwestern confirmed that Fitzgerald "has been relieved of his duties effective immediately," sharing a statement from university President Michael Schill, who said he informed Fitzgerald Monday afternoon.

Schill called the Northwestern football program's culture "incredible in some ways" but "incredibly broken in others."

"There is no doubt that Coach Fitzgerald has had a tremendous impact on our institution, well beyond the football field. For nearly thirty years, he has given himself to Northwestern as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach, and he has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of young men," Schill's statement continues. "His players have almost all graduated and represented the University with distinction. Over the last two days, I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails describing how he has transformed the lives of current and former student-athletes. However, as much as Coach Fitzgerald has meant to our institution and our student-athletes, we have an obligation — in fact a responsibility — to live by our values, even when it means making difficult and painful decisions such as this one. We must move forward. "

Schill also said that while the report from the six-month independent investigation into the hazing allegations will remain confidential, "it is important for our community to know the facts."

According to Schill, the report found that 11 current for former Wildcat football players acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing. He also cited media reports stating that "Northwestern football student-athletes confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years."

He said the investigation showed the hazing included "forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values," Schill added, "I am grateful that — to my knowledge — no student suffered physical injury as a result of these behaviors."

Schill said he only learned the identity of the student who initially raised the hazing allegations recently, and spoke with him and his parents over the weekend. "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," Schill's statement added.

Read Schill's full statement here.

On Monday night, Fitzgerald issued a statement to ESPN, saying he was surprised by the university president's decision to fire him, which, the former coach said, revoked an agreement between the two men in regard to the prior two-week suspension.

Fitzgerald added that "given this turn of events, I have entrusted my agent, Bryan Harlan, and legal counsel....to take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law."

The statement also reiterated that he had no prior knowledge of "any form of hazing" within the Northwestern football program.

Schill said on Saturday that he may have erred in only suspending Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay after an independent investigation showed that hazing likely took place under Fitzgerald’s watch. New details about the alleged hazing were detailed on Saturday in a disturbing report by the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern.

The report forced Schill to issue a new statement regarding Fitzgerald’s punishment.

“Coach Fitzgerald is not only responsible for what happens within the program, but also must take great care to uphold our institutional commitment to the student experience and our priority to ensure all students — undergraduate and graduate — can thrive,” Schill wrote in the statement.

"Clearly, he failed to uphold that commitment, and I failed to sufficiently consider that failure in levying a sanction."

On Saturday, a former Northwestern player who spoke on the condition of anonymity detailed the alleged hazing, which he said was mostly directed at freshmen, and involved coerced sexual acts, the Daily Northwestern reported.

The student newspaper reported on Saturday that the former player said that hazing surrounded a practice characterized as “running,” which was used to punish players when they made mistakes. When that happened, players were reportedly restrained by eight to 10 upperclassmen who would wear “Purge-like” masks and began dry-humping those being punished.

ESPN also spoke to the player and confirmed the details, which were not included when the university previously announced details of the results of its independent investigation. Fitzgerald, a former star linebacker at Northwestern, said he only learned of the hazing when the investigation was launched.

However, in issuing his updated statement on Saturday night, Schill said that in determining the two-week suspension of Fitzgerald, he focused “too much on what the report concluded (Fitzgerald) didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known.”

While at least one other former player backed up the story on the whistleblower, several former Northwestern players backed Fitzgerald and said that he would not knowingly allow hazing to take place. In a statement issued by current team members and obtained by multiple media outlets, team members said that they do not tolerate hazing in any form.

"Hazing goes against our values of respect, integrity, and personal growth. We are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes the well-being and development of every individual on our team,” the statement said.

"It is disheartening to see that the allegations brought forth against our team have been exaggerated and twisted into lies. These fabrications have been made with the intention of harming our program and tarnishing the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff," the statement continued. "We firmly deny the validity of these accusations and stand united in our assertion that they do not reflect the true character of our team."

ESPN reported on Sunday that it had also spoken with a current player on Northwestern's team who had spoken with the former player who brought the allegations forward. According to the report, the former player told the current Northwestern player that he had come up with a plan to "take Fitzgerald down" and that he would go to the student newspaper if the independent investigation did not result in Fitzgerald being dismissed as coach.

But in Monday's statement, Schill said, "This has never been about one former student-athlete and his motives."

Fitzgerald, who earned more than $5.3 million annually as Northwestern’s football coach, said in a statement that he was “very disappointed” to hear that hazing allegedly took place and reiterated that he had no prior knowledge of the reported actions.

Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university," Fitzgerald said in his statement. "We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward."

Fitzgerald had been at the helm of Northwestern’s program since 2006.

University leadership announced on Monday evening that it will name an interim coach in the coming days. Northwestern opens the 2023 season on Sept. 3 against Rutgers.