Pat Fitzgerald will not return as the head coach at Northwestern head coach, president Michael Schill announced Monday.
Fitzgerald was suspended without pay for two weeks on Friday following a third-party investigation into hazing allegations within the program.
Following a report by the Daily Northwestern on Saturday, Northwestern president Michael Schill said he "may have erred" in doling out such a light punishment.
"In determining an appropriate penalty for the head coach, I focused too much on what the report concluded he didn't know and not enough on what he should have known," Schill said. "Coach Fitzgerald is not only responsible for what happens within the program but must also take great care to uphold our institutional commitment to the student experience and our priority to ensure all students -- undergraduate and graduate -- can thrive during their time at Northwestern. Clearly, he failed to uphold that commitment, and I failed to sufficiently consider that failure in levying a sanction."
Schill also said he would speak with board of trustees members, faculty, and other university stakeholders to determine next steps.
"Since Friday, I have kept going back to what we should reasonably expect from our head coaches, our faculty and our campus leaders. And that is what led me to make this decision," Schill said in Monday's statement. "The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team. The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others."
In the meantime, a number of former players came forward to support Fitzgerald, while the Daily Northwestern published another piece Monday alleging a racist environment within the program from players in the 2000s.
"Over the last two days, I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails describing how he has transformed the lives of current and former student-athletes. However, as much as Coach Fitzgerald has meant to our institution and our student-athletes, we have an obligation — in fact a responsibility — to live by our values, even when it means making difficult and painful decisions such as this one," Schill said. "We must move forward.
"I recognize that my decision will not be universally applauded, and there will be those in our community who may vehemently disagree with it. Ultimately, I am charged with acting in the best interests of the entire University, and this decision is reflective of that. The damage done to our institution is significant, as is the harm to some of our students."
Fitzgerald is the most important player and coach in Wildcat football history. A 2008 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Fitzgerald led Northwestern to the Rose Bowl in the 1995 season and was a 2-time All-American, a 2-time Big Ten defensive player of the year, a 2-time Chuck Bednarik winner and a 2-time Nagurski winner.
Fitzgerald joined the program as an assistant coach in 2001 and was elevated to head coach in 2006 following the untimely passing of then-head coach Randy Walker. His teams went 110-101, highlighted by a 2012 Gator Bowl victory that was the program's first bowl win in decades and Big Ten West championships in 2018 and 2020.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
Update: David Braun will be acting head coach, according to ESPN. Braun was named the FootballScoop Coordinator of the Year in 2021 for his work leading North Dakota State's defense.