EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Northwestern has fired coach Pat Fitzgerald amid a bullying scandal that questioned his leadership of the program and damaged the university’s reputation after it misrepresented the allegations.
Fitzgerald’s firing Monday completed the former Northwestern linebacker’s rapid downfall. Fitzgerald, 48, had a permanent place at his alma mater, an annual fixture on any list of college coaches with the highest job security.
“Ultimately, the head coach is responsible for the culture of his team,” said Northwestern President Michael Schill in an open letter. “The bullying we examined was widespread and obviously not a secret within the program, which gave Coach Fitzgerald an opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, while the Northwestern football culture was incredible in some ways, it was broken in others.”
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Fitzgerald began a two-week suspension on Friday after the school said an investigation by a law firm had not found “sufficient” evidence that the coaching staff was aware of the ongoing harassment – although there was “significant possibility” of finding out.
The Daily Northwestern then published an article on Saturday, which detailed allegations from a former player who described specific instances of harassment and sexual abuse. The report also indicated that Fitzgerald “may have known that harassment was taking place.”
This prompted Schill to write an open letter to the university community In it, he admitted that he was “focused too much on what the report concluded[Fitzgerald]didn’t know and too little on what he should have known.” Schill went on to say that he intends to do so to speak with university leadership, members of the Board of Trustees and Chairs of the Faculty Senate to determine his next steps.
Schill was president of the University of Oregon before taking over Northwestern in September. He also teaches at Northwestern Law School.
