Terms undisclosed but it seems likely a fair amount of cash was involved.
Northwestern, former football coach Pat Fitzgerald settle lawsuit - ESPN
Anybody have thoughts where Fitz lands?
With Stacy and him both from the south suburbs of Chicago I can’t imagine going very far. They do have a home in Naples. His youngest is maybe in 8th or 9th grade I think.
Somebody suggested Io_a, which would be a kick in the balls replacing Ferentz. Decent location for proximity, but Fitz’s offenses have been anemic so replacing an anemic offensive coach with another doesn’t make sense.
How about Miami(FL) if Miami joins the B1G?
For the lawyers on the list, the NU statement seems to admit that Pat F was unaware of the hazing and wishes him best in future. How often does a defendant admit they were wrong?
Not a lawyer, but these kinds of settlements seem pretty common to me, my guess is there is a no-disparagement clause as well to prohibit both sides from saying negative things about the other.
Historically, the NCAA’s position has generally been that any unacceptable actions within the football program are the head coach’s responsibility even if the head coach isn’t directly aware of them. Fitz was certainly aware of some activities that IMHO could be deemed hazing, because a few years prior to to his dismissal he talked about players getting a pie in the face for mistakes they made.
The top executive in an organization is often insulated from what’s happening, we’ve seen it in our political leadership many times.
I think it was David Packard, of Hewlett-Packard, who championed ‘management by walking around’, he’d show up (mostly) unannounced at HP facilities around the world. The reality show ‘Undercover Boss’ attempts to portray something similar, though my experience has been that TV cameras are a giveway.
Fitz is only 50, he might find another football position, but if I was a school interested in him I’d be more concerned about NU’s uneven record and whether or not he can thrive under today’s rules on player compensation and NIL.
I’m sure that the comment from the one complainant that he was going to “get” Fitz played a role in NU’s decision.
This is another one of those “he says, she says” deals, where somebody is trying to hurt another thru the legal process. Hang around youth sports or education and you hear of these sorts of things all the time.
And there never any penalty for person who raises the false charges.
Go B1GCats
rsl