Northwestern Fires Pat Fitzgerald

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Ope3 said:
Plus proposed capacity is 35,000 which is 12,000 less than current, so in theory less potential for disrupting the neighbors for football games. Has to completely be about other events/concerts that locals are balking about.
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$800 million for only 35,000 capacity. There must be a lot more to it than a normal stadium.
 

Ope3 said:
Plus proposed capacity is 35,000 which is 12,000 less than current, so in theory less potential for disrupting the neighbors for football games. Has to completely be about other events/concerts that locals are balking about.
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I believed the neighbors already hate the current situation with nobody going to games.

I don’t get it, I would love it, but the local gripes apparently are endless.

More events, I’m guessing they hate that.
 

Unless I went to the wrong fan board over at Northwestern, I had absolutely no access to the threads. Was I in the wrong place?
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I believed the neighbors already hate the current situation with nobody going to games.

I don’t get it, I would love it, but the local gripes apparently are endless.

More events, I’m guessing they hate that.
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That is a possibility I had not thought of.
 


“Northwestern will retain its assistant coaches and support staff for the 2023 season in the wake of coach Pat Fitzgerald's firing” per this ESPN article.

To me, this only amplifies the clown show from the President and AD’s handling thus far. The executive report said Fitz and the assistant coaches were not aware of what was going on. The President and AD believe this is enough to outright fire the head coach but won’t consider further discipline for assistant coaches? I have to imagine Fitz’ lawyers are licking their lips and already looking for a new beach house at this.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I'm sure there isn't a whole lot they want to say right now but saying nothing just makes little sense to me.
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It's usually not too difficult to get up and speak in generalities. . .

"best interest of the program"
"alarmed by accusations of hazing"

If that school doesn't have a lawyer that can write up some fluff piece that doesn't open them up to litigation, i'd be shocked.

That said, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe NW is just thinking, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't? They could put out some BS fluff statement and piss off the people who don't want Fitz canned while also pissing off the mob. So maybe I'm just so used to fluff BS PR statement that I think it's the right way to go and saying nothing is just the best course of action. In hindsight, it probably would have been the best course of action for Kaler during our fiasco.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's usually not too difficult to get up and speak in generalities. . .

"best interest of the program"
"alarmed by accusations of hazing"

If that school doesn't have a lawyer that can write up some fluff piece that doesn't open them up to litigation, i'd be shocked.

That said, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe NW is just thinking, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't? They could put out some BS fluff statement and piss off the people who don't want Fitz canned while also pissing off the mob. So maybe I'm just so used to fluff BS PR statement that I think it's the right way to go and saying nothing is just the best course of action. In hindsight, it probably would have been the best course of action for Kaler during our fiasco.
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If NC can get away with BB shenanigans for decades, why can't the NW brass think things thoroughly before taking drastic measures?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's usually not too difficult to get up and speak in generalities. . .

"best interest of the program"
"alarmed by accusations of hazing"

If that school doesn't have a lawyer that can write up some fluff piece that doesn't open them up to litigation, i'd be shocked.

That said, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe NW is just thinking, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't? They could put out some BS fluff statement and piss off the people who don't want Fitz canned while also pissing off the mob. So maybe I'm just so used to fluff BS PR statement that I think it's the right way to go and saying nothing is just the best course of action. In hindsight, it probably would have been the best course of action for Kaler during our fiasco.
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I am assuming legal minds at the school told them to STFU for the time being. As you said nothing they say now is going to make anything better and the potential for a quote to blow up in their face is very high.
 



Dave H said:
I am assuming legal minds at the school told them to STFU for the time being. As you said nothing they say now is going to make anything better and the potential for a quote to blow up in their face is very high.
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Probably should have talked to those guys before they suspended… er fired… but kept the rest of the staff.

And now hide.


Gotta be a more coherent way of doing this.
 

upnorthkid said:
Agree completely. Prior take way too aggressive imo. All I’ve seen them say is things happened and he didn’t know but should’ve. Them not saying he did it is not them saying he ordered sexual assaults to happen
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The president literally stated the complainant’s allegations have been corroborated. The same complainant that has been all over digital media including ESPN stating Fitzgerald would “smile menacingly” while clapping to signal which player to run.

Words matter. The decision by the school and president to use sloppy language open to interpretation and innuendo shouldn't be acceptable. The decision to bury the investigation findings except for cryptic bits and pieces shouldn’t be acceptable. They could choose to release what was corroborated, by who, when.

I am surprised some of you seem to agree with how this has been handled . It’s been a disgraceful ****show.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
The president literally stated the complainant’s allegations have been corroborated. The same complainant that has been all over digital media including ESPN stating Fitzgerald would “smile menacingly” while clapping to signal which player to run.

Words matter. The decision by the school and president to use sloppy language open to interpretation and innuendo shouldn't be acceptable. The decision to bury the investigation findings except for cryptic bits and pieces shouldn’t be acceptable. They could choose to release what was corroborated, by who, when.

I am surprised some of you seem to agree with how this has been handled . It’s been a disgraceful ****show.
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go ahead and find where i said I agree with what has been done. I've written numerous times they've fucked this up majorly.

If they come out and say, "he didn't smile menacingly", they're going to have to answer exactly what he did or didn't do. They don't want to go there right now (or probably ever as it's going to be a public spectacle that will only make the university look bad one way or the other). That you and a bunch of people are demanding the University to release something like it will somehow make it all better (it won't) so that you can play judge and jury by yourself isn't what they want to do at this point. The language is sloppy but nowhere will you find them saying that every detail was corroborated. It was said the hazing happened and should have been known about.

They've blown this thing to smithereens in arguably the worst way possible. Maybe, just maybe, someone told the president to shut up for a second while they actually put something together so they quit looking like absolute morons. Or, they're prepping for litigation and they don't want more cannon fodder out there before they have time to meet with Fitz (it's been announced they fired him for cause; it's going to come out). They owe nothing to the rest of us. They owe it to the people involved in the actual situation.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
The president literally stated the complainant’s allegations have been corroborated. The same complainant that has been all over digital media including ESPN stating Fitzgerald would “smile menacingly” while clapping to signal which player to run.

Words matter. The decision by the school and president to use sloppy language open to interpretation and innuendo shouldn't be acceptable. The decision to bury the investigation findings except for cryptic bits and pieces shouldn’t be acceptable. They could choose to release what was corroborated, by who, when.

I am surprised some of you seem to agree with how this has been handled . It’s been a disgraceful ****show.
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gameshow...?
 




Pat McAfee Weighs In These guys don't know much but they brought up another issue in addition to the hazing....racism. Look at the NW team photo and maybe 20 of 100 guys are black. The ethnic guys are told to cut their long hair or dreads ... the white guys are able to wear it long. Other examples of racism supposedly have been reported.

No idea how you keep the assistants and the players who were the ring leaders. Somewhere else I read that 11 players have come forward saying this happened and was bad.....speculation that was maybe in the report of the 50 people they talked to.

Lotta speculation the report was commissioned to be slanted to protect Fitzgerald which is why it started with the two week vacation. Then the school newspaper dropped the bombshell.
 


This story isn’t really about Pat Fitzgerald at all. It’s about how their new president has awful judgement and is utterly unqualified for the position.
 



Goldmember said:
This story isn’t really about Pat Fitzgerald at all. It’s about how their new president has awful judgement and is utterly unqualified for the position.
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I'll give you 1 for 3.
1. It is certainly about the culture Pat Fitzgerald presided over.
2. The NW President is shockingly incompetent.
3. He was the President at the University of Oregon
 

Goldmember said:
This story isn’t really about Pat Fitzgerald at all. It’s about how their new president has awful judgement and is utterly unqualified for the position.
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Here’s an article from ESPN with extensive quotes from Fitz’ lawyers. Interesting tidbit: PJ and Fitz have the same agent (Bryan Harlan). Some interesting excerpts from the article below.

The investigation from attorney Maggie Hickey and the ArentFox Schiff firm did not find evidence that Fitzgerald or Northwestern's other coaches knew about the hazing activities but that they had opportunities to discover and report the behavior.
"I cannot understand how you could terminate someone for cause when they [Northwestern] admit that their own lawyer does not have any evidence that my client ever knew anything at all, about any of the alleged hazing behavior," Webb said. "If I present that to a jury someday, a jury is going have a hard time believing that you can terminate someone for cause when they didn't know anything about [the incidents]."…

Northwestern declined comment when asked about the oral agreement and the reasoning for Fitzgerald's for-cause firing…

“There's a huge reputational issue that will be part of it," Webb said. "If we were to proceed with litigation, it would be a very large damage case because he can claim loss compensation for eight years left on his contract. And 10 years in the future, he can't replace it. So, you're talking about a huge amount of money."
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Taken from Northwestern site.

Northwestern lost two commits from its 2024 class on Tuesday night. The question is how many more may be coming?
Three-star offensive linemen Payton Stewart and Julius Tate both announced their decommitments with tweets within minutes of each other. They came a day after Northwestern fired 17-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday.
 

upnorthkid said:
go ahead and find where i said I agree with what has been done. I've written numerous times they've fucked this up majorly.

If they come out and say, "he didn't smile menacingly", they're going to have to answer exactly what he did or didn't do. They don't want to go there right now (or probably ever as it's going to be a public spectacle that will only make the university look bad one way or the other). That you and a bunch of people are demanding the University to release something like it will somehow make it all better (it won't) so that you can play judge and jury by yourself isn't what they want to do at this point. The language is sloppy but nowhere will you find them saying that every detail was corroborated. It was said the hazing happened and should have been known about.

They've blown this thing to smithereens in arguably the worst way possible. Maybe, just maybe, someone told the president to shut up for a second while they actually put something together so they quit looking like absolute morons. Or, they're prepping for litigation and they don't want more cannon fodder out there before they have time to meet with Fitz (it's been announced they fired him for cause; it's going to come out). They owe nothing to the rest of us. They owe it to the people involved in the actual situation.
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All of that is reasonable, as I believe my position is. The summary:

“The investigation team determined that the complainant’s claims were largely supported by the evidence gathered during the investigation, including separate and consistent first-person accounts from current and former players,” per the summary.

Given that they made the about face on discipline after the original complainant went public (and nuclear) Saturday, and the second statement (on the firing) stated 11 players corroborated the first player on existence of hazing (without any specifics) one can reasonably draw a wide range of conclusions. I suppose perhaps a saving grace is the statement did say they have no evidence Fitzgerald knew or orchestrated it but of course unsaid there is that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
 


matt said:
Here’s an article from ESPN with extensive quotes from Fitz’ lawyers. Interesting tidbit: PJ and Fitz have the same agent (Bryan Harlan). Some interesting excerpts from the article below.
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Wow. Can anyone think of a scenario where the for cause holds up? A bluff, figuring or hoping Fitzgerald won’t want to take this to trial? Who has more to lose.
 

matt said:
“Northwestern will retain its assistant coaches and support staff for the 2023 season in the wake of coach Pat Fitzgerald's firing” per this ESPN article.

To me, this only amplifies the clown show from the President and AD’s handling thus far. The executive report said Fitz and the assistant coaches were not aware of what was going on. The President and AD believe this is enough to outright fire the head coach but won’t consider further discipline for assistant coaches? I have to imagine Fitz’ lawyers are licking their lips and already looking for a new beach house at this.
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It is hard to believe that this can happen under Coach Pat Fitzerald's nose. IMHO, a thorough investigation was warranted before deciding to fire him. Did the President and AD jump the gun?
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Day 5 and still no calls for disciplinary proceedings of players or staff…

I find this all bizarre.
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Discipline? They retained them all for the coming season....players and coaches.
And the President asked the fans to cheer for and support our poor unfortunate athletes.
It truly is befuddling the mis-steps, the words, the actions, the timeline, the strategy, the decisions of the administration and President on this whole thing...it just continues in bizarre fashion.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Day 5 and still no calls for disciplinary proceedings of players or staff…

I find this all bizarre.
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Radio guys have been saying the last couple days. And they interviewed the lead professor on the petition today saying the same thing.
 

hungan1 said:
It is hard to believe that this can happen under Coach Pat Fitzerald's nose. IMHO, a thorough investigation was warranted before deciding to fire him. Did the President and AD jump the gun?
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The AD has been on vacation and only returned yesterday evening. And the investigation started back in November by a 3rd party.
 

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