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Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald has settled on a $130 million lawsuit with the university over his wrongful termination in July 2023. Fitzgerald was fired after allegations of hazing within the program were made public.
Fitzgerald had filed a suit asking for $130 million from Northwestern in October 2023. However, nearly two years after a legal tussle between the school and the coach, a settlement has been reached.
In a statement released on Thursday, Fitzgerald confirmed that it had been proven he did not know about the hazing allegations while he was coaching the Wildcats. However, the former Northwestern coach said that hazing had taken place during his spell with the program.
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“For the past two years, I have engaged in a process of extensive fact and expert discovery, which showed what I have known and said all along — that I had no knowledge of hazing ever occurring in the Northwestern football program, and that I never directed or encouraged hazing in any way,” Fitzgerald said.
“Through discovery, I learned that some hazing did occur in the football program at Northwestern. I am extremely disappointed that members of the team engaged in this behavior and that no one reported it to me, so that I could have alerted Northwestern’s athletic department and administrators, stopped the inappropriate behavior, and taken every necessary step to protect Northwestern’s student athletes.”
Northwestern had initially suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay before firing him. An anonymous complaint was made against Fitzgerald late in 2022, which later uncovered the hazing at Northwestern.
A look at Pat Fitzgerald's record at Northwestern
Northwestern hired Pat Fitzgerald as a defensive backs coach in 2001. He also served as a linebackers coach before being promoted to head coach in 2006.
Across 17 years as the Wildcats' head coach, Fitzgerald compiled a 110–101 record. He led the program to two Big Ten West Division titles.
Fitzgerald had posted three seasons with 10 wins at Northwestern. However, in the final two years with the team, he recorded a 4-20 record, which included just one win in the 2022 season.
