Northwestern initially suspended Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks after hazing allegations were made regarding the football program. Following more in-depth reporting into the allegations, as well as claims of racism within the program, Fitzgerald has now been removed as the program's head coach.
The day after the announcement of Fitzgerald's suspension, reports from The Daily Northwestern, the university's student newspaper, have detailed brutal hazing allegations, including several involving sexual coercion, and another that showed reports of a racist culture in the locker room that has existed since the earlier days of Fitzgerald's time as the head coach of the Wildcats.
"The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team," Northwestern President Michael Schill said in a memo, per The Washington Post. "The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others."
Fitzgerald is the program's all-time coaching wins leader with 110, 61 more than the next-closest coach. His teams have gone 5-5 in bowl games.
Following news of his termination, Fitzgerald released a statement to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, saying that an investigation from attorney Maggie Hickey found he had no knowledge of the hazing in Northwestern. He added that he and Northwestern came to a mutual agreement over the two-week suspension, and said he was "surprised" to learn he was fired, with Schill "unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment."
"Given this unexpected turn of events, I have entrusted my agent, Bryan Harlan, and legal counsel, Dan Webb from Winston & Strawn LLP, to take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law," Fitzgerald said in the statement.
Here's what you need to know about Fitzgerald's firing.
Why Northwestern fired Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern initially announced just a two-week suspension over hazing allegations about the football program. But multiple reports from The Daily Northwestern revealed more damaging allegations than those that had previously been suggested in the initial announcement of the suspension, which ultimately led to Fitzgerald's firing.
On Saturday, The Daily Northwestern reported the team had several hazing rituals that involved "coerced sexual acts." An anonymous player told the paper about a form of hazing where a player was restrained, and upperclassmen would begin "dry-humping" the player in a dark locker room.
There was reportedly a signal that players would use to indicate when a player would be subjected to the hazing, which was termed "running." The anonymous player said Fitzgerald sometimes made the signal himself, though the previous investigation from the university had said it could not find conclude the head coach had knowledge of the hazing.
Two other hazing rituals were described, including one in which players were forced to strip naked and brush past other naked players before being sprayed with a hose. Another ritual involved a freshman quarterback taking a snap from the center while both were naked.
Following The Daily Northwestern's report, Schill reportedly wrote in an email to community members that he believed he "erred" in suspending Fitzgerald for two weeks.
“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."
Two days after the hazing report, The Daily Northwestern dropped another bombshell, detailing how the Northwestern locker room had a "culture of enabling racism." The report was based on experiences from three different players, including one, former offensive lineman Ramon Diaz Jr., who spoke on the record about his experiences.
The players said Fitzgerald would request Black players and coaches cut longer hairstyles, including dreadlocks, to fit the "Wildcat Way," a phrase used along with "good, clean American fun," that was used to claim how players should look and act, per the report. White players with long hair reportedly were not asked to cut their hair.
Diaz said he was forced to shave "Cinco de Mayo" into his hair as part of a freshman tradition to have messages shaved into their heads, and he said one coach asked Diaz how to clean a room. That same coach also told a Black player not to wear certain hats anymore because he "wasn't in the hood anymore," and called his walking style a "gangster walk."
Additionally, there were reports that players of color felt the locker room was segregated by race, and that that segregation often led to players transferring because they did not feel they fit in with teammates.
Diaz told the paper he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder when he graduated from Northwestern, with his football playing experience largely contributing to it.
"The fact that I'm still going to a therapist and talking about these things after more than 10 years is indicative of the mental health state I was left in," Diaz said, per The Daily Northwestern. "I didn't even watch a football game again for almost five years after I left Northwestern. It was that negative of an experience for me that I didn't want anything to do with the sport."
Fitzgerald denied awareness of the alleged hazing in a statement on Friday, saying he was "very disappointed when I heard about the allegations of hazing on our football team." Current and former players have also defended Fitzgerald, with a statement from current players labeled as "The ENTIRE Northwestern football team" calling the allegations of hazing "exaggerated and twisted into lies."
Upon the news of Fitzgerald's firing, former Northwestern corner Greg Newsome II said he didn't want to downplay anyone else's experience, but said his was "nothing but respect."