Northwestern has fired coach Pat Fitzgerald
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redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Its all crumbling down....
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Northwestern has lost control of the narrative and I wonder if the AD and President can survive. A couple of articles I have read said that Northwestern has to come clean about what it knows and what it doesn’t regarding the hazing and potential sexual misconduct within its football program. Release the report and redate it if necessary!
People are piling on and it is getting worse by the minute.
This will be a good case study of how NOT to manage a crisis.
People are piling on and it is getting worse by the minute.
This will be a good case study of how NOT to manage a crisis.
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Based on his response so far, I'm guessing NU president Schill will announce Gary Barnett as their next football coach by week's end.
Yesterday I was going to (thought better of it) joke that hopefully the hazing was diverse enough to not cause problems for Fitz with NU's DEI office, as that would be unforgivable. Who knew that my tasteless joke would turn out to be accurate?
As it gets worse the lower Fitz’s settlement will be. At this point Northwestern is just trying to figure out how little they can give him to leave quietly.
Click the post from Griffey232. Something doesn’t smell right with this one.
Settlement? This all seems like for-cause.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Your insertion of the Tweet didn't show up. Am pasting it in here. Diaz was ~ 33 in 2019. He's ~ 37 now. If genuine, seems like Stockholm Syndrome. If this stuff is deep-seated enough it can take years to surface, even with work.
SactownIllini
- Coleman Hawkinsland
The 3 players interviewed on the racism front confirmed the car wash existed. I don't see a way Fitzee survives this. If it's been going on at least 15 years, then it's either a huge cover up or complete lack of control of a program.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
maybe
no one from their commit list of 2024 high school grads sticks out , but they undoubtedly have a couple players on their two deep that might make sense
but I’m totally fine keeping away from their entire roster , ease of transfer portal not withstanding
I don't think we lost any commits to them in '24's class so far. There were 3 commits (DL Gant, DB Walters, '22 OL McGuire) in the past few classes that we had in for OV's and wanted. But yeah, depending on what all comes to light about the players' involvement in all of this, we might just steer clear all together.
Could be a variety of reasons, but I'm wondering if the previous positive affirmations were more about networking and self-preservation? For example, let's say this player went public with this year's ago, he is basically putting himself out there and there would be no guarantee of how things would end up. He could've been treated as a hero and allegations taken seriously, or treated as a liar and malcontent. If the latter, he would essentially be blacklisted from NU athletics and blocked from all of the important networking connections that a former player would have access to. Especially if he was just making solo allegations and didn't have broader support or corroboration, he may have felt that bringing things to light would lead him to be worse off in the long run. However, now that the story has broke and things are starting to be revealed, he may feel that it's a lot safer to come out and relate his own experience because he already knows how the broader narrative is being received.
illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
Fitz will step down by end of week before he gets fired. Book it.
Gary Barnett - Wikipedia
How Gary Barnett’s CU Buffs journey came full circle: “It absolutely blows you away”
“You’ve just got to go on,” Gary Barnett says of his return to CU Buffs circles. “Life’s too short. You’ve got to go on and you’ve got to forgive. That’s the way it was with me. Stuff l…
www.denverpost.com
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
they are simply negotiating a buyout number that will satisfy Fitz and prevent lawsuits
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
Not sure about that. I think it is more likely that they are going through legal review to determine if the fire for cause will stick. Details seem to be getting worse by the hour, so a buyout will not look good for Northwestern. There is still the option for legal action on Fitz's part, but I think Northwestern will want to kick that can down the road for when the smoke settles.
In addition, they are likely also squaring away who will take over in the interim period.
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Recent former Northwestern player: Allegations of hazing are "100% true"
The former player details the hazing incidents he witnessed and claims that both Pat Fitzgerald and assistant coaches knew of hazing.
www.insidenu.com
Shane Walsh
aka "Captain Oblivious"
- Cynthiana, Kentucky
Now Parkins and Spiegel (WSCR) reporting on lack of institutional control in the athletic department extending into the baseball program.
Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
Can’t see how their AD survives this
Coach a "toxic" raging, belittling, profane tyrant. So many transfers that NU might not be able to field a team as it stands now.
He hired the baseball coach. Poor hire. Hiding all weekend. He will be sacked. Mike Thomas was sacked for as much.
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