Northwestern has fired coach Pat Fitzgerald
- Status
Someone should send out the reminder that the ENTIRE Northwestern football team issued a letter specifically asking everyone to respect their privacy because these media people don’t seem to be adhering to that.
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
If you care to listen....
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altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I was at UIUC in the mid-'80s. Had several high-school friends who played D-1 baseball around the Midwest at the time and, years later, a colleague who played D-II basketball in the mid-'90s. That describes each of the four head coaches they played for (one transferred and thrived afterward.)
My colleague/friend who played D-II basketball has not watched a basketball game, in person or televised, for 25 years since he graduated because of his negative experience in college. I hope I have a mad-skewed data set there.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I have thought for a long time that there probably isn't any program in major college sports where the head coach could survive the program's internal dirty laundry being aired in public, especially in the current era with the current sensitivities.
That being said, this all seems very emblematic of a way of maintaining discipline that is archaic and of a bygone age, and speaks to a head coach who has never evolved from the viewpoint of a mid-90's linebacker.
Maintaining discipline and standards is still the essential lifeblood of a competitive sports team, especially football, but in this day and age it's all about professionalization and bringing the attitude and expectations of a professional to sports at a younger and younger age.
There are things to not like about that as well, money, transfers, lack of loyalty, but that mindset can keep these young meatheaded jocks in line by the same token as the old ways of bullying and hierarchy. It's not a coincidence that the same Fitz that has been a whiny Boomer every step of the way on player empowerment is fostering this kind of culture behind the scenes, two sides of the same coin.
Thankfully I think Bielema, especially the older, somewhat chastened, NFL-experienced version we have, brings a bit of the best of both worlds. He unquestionably takes a modern, professionalized view of his players, but he also brings sincerity in his relationships with them, he's professional but not purely transactional.
Anyway, there's really no way for this story to go bad for us. Either Fitz survives with his reputation punctured, or a weakened and fractured Northwestern goes searching for a sacrificial lamb to take a dead-end job. All good.
That being said, this all seems very emblematic of a way of maintaining discipline that is archaic and of a bygone age, and speaks to a head coach who has never evolved from the viewpoint of a mid-90's linebacker.
Maintaining discipline and standards is still the essential lifeblood of a competitive sports team, especially football, but in this day and age it's all about professionalization and bringing the attitude and expectations of a professional to sports at a younger and younger age.
There are things to not like about that as well, money, transfers, lack of loyalty, but that mindset can keep these young meatheaded jocks in line by the same token as the old ways of bullying and hierarchy. It's not a coincidence that the same Fitz that has been a whiny Boomer every step of the way on player empowerment is fostering this kind of culture behind the scenes, two sides of the same coin.
Thankfully I think Bielema, especially the older, somewhat chastened, NFL-experienced version we have, brings a bit of the best of both worlds. He unquestionably takes a modern, professionalized view of his players, but he also brings sincerity in his relationships with them, he's professional but not purely transactional.
Anyway, there's really no way for this story to go bad for us. Either Fitz survives with his reputation punctured, or a weakened and fractured Northwestern goes searching for a sacrificial lamb to take a dead-end job. All good.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Coaching brings weird and bad things out of some people for whatever reason, and for a long time that kind of behavior wasn't just tolerated, it was actively encouraged.
Combine that with 100 18-22 year old jocks away from their parents for the first time in a high-status but high-pressure environment and, well, college football has been an ugly business for as long as there has been college football.
Power brings out weird, bad things in many people. I've seen Mr. Rogers turn into General Patton when given a promotion to management.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
There's a fine line. I played for a raging, profane tyrant in high school and admired him. He was not toxic or belittling but ventured close to that line. He brought out the best in his players and they'd go to the mat for him. It took restraint for guys like him not to cross the line. He had it. Others didn't.
I recall a top Ohio HS player of my day who chose to play at Indiana. Bob Knight grabbed his crotch in the locker room at halftime once and demanded to know if he were a man. The player ultimately transferred but only after three seasons in that environment.
It was indeed a different age. And the ugliness of college football has historically extended far beyond the locker room.
[As an aside, alas Fitz is not a Boomer. He's sadly of my Gen X cohort. And, yes, there can be a world of difference. Won't quibble with the "whiny" modifier, however.]
Time to clean out the athletic department at NU.
www.insidenu.com
BREAKING: Jim Foster accused of toxic workplace environment, nine players and staffers tell 670 The Score
Another wave of controversy hits Northwestern athletics.
www.insidenu.com
Fitz is not a Boomer, he is Gen X and closer to the Millennials time than to the Boomers. Unless you were just using 'Boomer' as a generic perjorative, if so carry on.
Edit: lost to the prolific @altgeld88 again!
It’s always been an odd dynamic for me: To hire a coach, you are selecting from a group - the applicant pool - that is most likely to engage in this b.s.. Like, here’s some grown men who are seeking to blow a whistle in the face of some exercising teenagers. Simultaneously uniquely qualified and the last person I’d want hanging around my kid.
(Apologies to the truly great coaches out there.)
Apparently an archaic way of administering a program from a bygone era as well.
It’s utterly insane to me that university leadership seriously thought they’d skate by on this just by purchasing a in-house investigation, claiming Fitzgerald knew nothing, and dumping news of his two-week suspension on a weekend ahead of the dead period believing that would be the end of it. This has become a viral world and these things ALWAYS blow up. Especially when there are allegations of nude hazing. This scandal is tailor made for the social media generation. How could the NU president and team have failed to foresee all of this?
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Wishful thinking is usually just that.
"The university conducted an investigation regarding this behavior; however, the administration allegedly did not speak to Northwestern baseball players during that process"Time to clean out the athletic department at NU.
BREAKING: Jim Foster accused of toxic workplace environment, nine players and staffers tell 670 The Score
Another wave of controversy hits Northwestern athletics.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
If you don't know, you can't afford it
Actually, you would be selecting from a group of unemployed coaches, otherwise they'd be totin' the clipboard and carrying the whistle by the lanyard. Coaches are unemployed because they'd been fired.
Someone needs to tell Rovell that you don't need to give a take no one is asking you for. It costs $0 to keep your mouth shut until everything comes out.
Fitz's haircut and Oakley sunglasses wish to communicate this point up-front.
Original story:Time to clean out the athletic department at NU.
BREAKING: Jim Foster accused of toxic workplace environment, nine players and staffers tell 670 The Score
Another wave of controversy hits Northwestern athletics.
Fitz will not go quietly if not given some kind of settlement. The last thing Northwestern wants is a long drawn out affair in the courts.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
The guy's journalistic integrity (what was left of it) is shot. If he is so close to Fitz he needs to stay out of it until something concrete happens. No one is asking him to light the pitchforks. You are totally right, Darren needs to shut up and take the L. He can eulogize Fitz and what a great guy he thinks he is when this is over.
LOL!
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
If even 10% of this is true, Fitz would be an idiot to take this to court. The university has the upper hand here.
- Status