Agree that this won’t be the last we hear of it
Harry
In fact, there have already been additional reports that (1) what we’re reading about today was known by the investigators; and (2) the coaches knew about it. If you read the “executive summary” closely, you’ll see that it’s very carefully worded to where it’s hard to say what it’s saying at all. For example, on the issue of knowledge, it says: “The investigation team did not discovery sufficient evidence to believe that coaching staff knew about the ongoing hazing conduct.” So was there any such evidence, but just not “sufficient”? Was there evidence that coaching staff knew about hazing incidents, but just didn’t know it was “ongoing”?
As more and more reports come out, this isn’t heading in the right direction.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37980269/ex-northwestern-player-says-hazing-included-sexualized-acts (says that sources says that Northwestern was aware of the allegations reported today)
https://northwestern.rivals.com/news/explosive-hazing-allegations-call-fitz-nu-administration-into-question (reports that a football staff member corroborated the allegations and says it wasn’t a secret)
I think Fitz is gone, https://nypost.com/2023/07/08/northwestern-players-allege-hazing-included-coerced-sexual-acts/
This is the worst story since the BB point shaving, if it can be proven, which I doubt Fitz should go
If NU is looking for a reason to fire Fitz, this could become it. With a new President and a new AD, Fitz is vulnerable. Could this happen in the middle of the campaign to build a new stadium? Could this be used to derail that project? Watch to see who jumps on the story locally.
Paul Sullivan just released a column for the Chicago Tribune saying Fitz’s coaching future is in doubt, so we’ll see how this unfolds.
Following Fitz would be a real challenge, coaches who can win at Northwestern are rare. Could the Cats wander in the wilderness for decades, like Nebraska has done for the last two decades?
Mike Nolan
What’s the source on this? ANYBODY could put out something claiming it was from the entire football team.
Also, I would have expected better writing from Northwestern students.
Based on some of the allegations, all of this is against the law as laid out by the Adult Abuse Training most HS coaches are required to complete as a result of the Gerry Sandusky violations at State Penn.
rsl
Northwestern now says it is ‘reconsidering the penalty against Pat Fitzgerald.’ The NU President is quoted saying that in the light of the Daily Northwestern’s story, Fitz failed to live up to his committment to uphold NU standards and that failure was not taken into account in determining an appropriate penalty.
IMHO, it sounds like they’re getting ready to pull the plug. It would not surprise me at this point if NU isn’t looking for a new head coach by Monday morning, although there will probably be an interim coach for the 2023 season.
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Update on Hazing Investigation: Leadership Notes - Northwestern University
northwestern.edu
](Update on Hazing Investigation: Leadership Notes - Northwestern University)
The news about Northwestern reconsidering the penalties against Pat Fitzgerald is spreading, I’ve seen it on the Chicago Tribune and Washington Post websites this morning.
I recall that in the NFL Sean Payton was suspended for a season at New Orleans but went on to coach a few more seasons afterwards before retiring, then taking the Denver job a year later. I don’t know if that’s a model that works in college football because it would totally mess up the recruiting cycles.
So I’m kind of at a loss for what additional penalties NU can come up with that don’t result in firing Fitz. Maybe they’re hoping he’ll offer to resign?
Mike Nolan
I think de facto it will be up to Pat Ryan
Harry
First as a disclaimer, I have no axe to grind with regard to Pat Fitzgerald. I have never met him, but I believe he has been a great representative for Northwestern. He has certainly had the support of the alums with regard to investment in the athletic program in general and football in particular. He demonstrates that it isn’t just an act by showing up at many of the other athletic events besides football.
I DO have an axe to grind with regard to college football, but my response isn’t driven by that either.
I’m thinking about this in the context of what happened to Joe Pa.
We’ve regularly commented that Pat could have a career similar to Joe’s. I don’t think any of us thought to include Joe’s downfall as part of that wish.
The offenses are different by orders of magnitude, but the unraveling of the “official” story is weirdly similar.
Now everyone wants to know who knew what and when did they know it.
The original investigation is now highly suspect.
As a result, someone is likely going to have to take the blame and Fitz unfortunately is the last man standing with regard to those within the immediate zone of accountability. Phillips is gone. Morty is gone. Many of the assistants are also gone.
Add to that Fitz’s squeaky clean image up until now and his claim that Northwestern recruits high character kids who go do school, work hard, and come from great families where they learned respect and the value of deferred gratification. Now it turns out that there were also some twisted entitled frat boys in the mix who were happy to treat their football experience like Lord of the Flies.
In today’s media climate, that is blood in the waters.
I hope that Fitz does survive this, but if he does he will be diminished in the same way that Randy Walker was after Rashidi Wheeler died. There will be many difficult recruiting conversations if he does survive. Whether he survives or not, there will likely be some lurid lawsuits too. This isn’t going away anytime soon.
Jeff
Possibly, Harry, but with a new President and AD, I could see both of them wanting to prove that they run their own shows and aren’t beholden to the biggest donor to NU.
One of the articles points out that Fitz has been pretty vocal in coaching circles about not allowing hazing activities, this incident make that look insincere, at best.
Mike Nolan
I did just hear from my neighbor that the players families are sending in letters to Schill in support of Fitz. I doubt he will offer to resign with his kid now on the team Obviously that doesn’t preclude getting fired
Harry
Fitz did make a video in 2014 about the evils of hazing so that does not weigh well
Regarding Pat Ryan, if he wanted to pull the plug he would certainly have the power to do so. ,( he did effectively “buy” high, pledging all of this money after 2 Western BT titles ;before the on field program took a huge dive ) If he wants Fitz to stay, I think the the Board/Schill would have a hard fight on their hands to win that war
Harry
Dan Wolken has an opinion piece on the USA Today website that is highly critical of Fitzgerald and Northwestern.
The ‘Cats Hazing story is getting a segment on the ABC Sunday News. It was just previewed at the start of the broadcast. This is just mushrooming.
Paul
Paul H. Levinson