Now I’m even more curious who sent out this “nothing to see here” letter.
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And the drama continues:
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The ex-coach claims the initial penalty was a mutual decision:
“Last Friday, Northwestern and I came to a mutual agreement regarding the appropriate resolution following the thorough investigation conducted by Ms. (Maggie) Hickey,” he said. ‘This agreement stipulated a two-week suspension. Therefore, I was surprised when I learned the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment.”
The university President claims it was his unilateral decision:
“Ultimately, the decision to originally suspend Coach Fitzgerald was mine and mine alone, as is the decision to part ways with him."
But neither side anticipated that student journalists would blow the case wide open and ruin their little charade of concern and the slap-on-the-wrist punishment. That’s the ‘problem’ with running a top-level journalism program. Kudos to the students.
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I applaud the NU president. Whether the coach had direct knowledge or not, this happened under his watch and ultimately, HE is responsible for protecting his players. Parents entrusted their sons to HIM. He should accept his punishment, apologize profusely for not knowing that this was going on under his leadership (if that is indeed true, that he didn’t know), and make drastic changes to his coaching moving forward (specifically, that he will have a 100% NO TOLERANCE policy on hazing behavior). All teams should have non-athletic (maybe even non-university) staff who check in with players on a regular basis and try and vet whether any of this stuff is happening.
Syracuse University’s student publication outed a similarly disturbing situation back in 2021 with the softball head coach. The university supposedly investigated and found that the coach’s actions were acceptable, and she remains the head coach today.
Former SU softball players allege abuses by head coach Shannon Doepking (dailyorange.com)
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Not surprised at all…the article isn’t very detailed but I expect Fitzgerald may sue for breach of contract, which may not be a stretch. I haven’t read anything yet that addressed if he is getting to keep part or all of his remaining contract $.
Separately, I have no idea how NU can keep the baseball coach after firing Fitzgerald.
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I think the AD has to go too.
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It’s not dying. It’s just being re-invented.
The cost of the class action from the naked football players would probably be more expensive to the school than Coach’s ‘breach of contract’ lawsuit.
People do wrong, people lose jobs, institutions get sued, but life must go on.
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I agree. I believe NU had to fire Fitzgerald. I assume they expected he would sue, and yes, just a cost of doing business.
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The real question is, what will NU do to those who led and followed the team bonding sex abuse activities? Are any of them still at the school? Has the program suddenly become humane, supportive, and non-abusive? After all, the coach didn’t start it, didn’t perpetuate it. He just didn’t take the trouble or time to make sure that it wasn’t going on, nor did he direct his assistants to supervise to make sure it wasn’t happening. It was students who were the perpetrators.
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Presumably most of the existing players and incoming recruits will transfer to another school. The program must not be a very happy place right now.
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NU football went 1-11 last year. Yes, they play in a tough conference, but there is lots of room for improvement. Could be the opportunity for some rebuilding and hopefully a big culture shift.
My understanding is there is more concern about the baseball team where they have so many students in the transfer pipeline, they don’t expect to be able to make their roster.
My hope is that this will be a wake up call, not just for NU, but everywhere.
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I expect it takes years after a scandal for a program to recover
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I assume many are still at the school. The accuser was a first year, last year. I doubt he is coming back, but that hasn’t been made clear.
We don’t know this for sure. There have been some reports that the Coach clapped at certain guys which was a signal to team ‘leaders’ to ‘run’ the guy…but that is not proven either. But yes, students were the ultimate perpetrators and I assume they are still with the team (some may have graduated in 2023). Too late for most of them to get in the transfer portal, too late for most incoming recruits to make a move (at least if they want a full ride).
I hope that some students will be punished. But there’s a lot on the plates of the administration right now, including the baseball coach situation where the investigation found evidence of bullying and abusive behavior towards his players. No way that guy can stay now with Fitz being fired. And the baseball team has completely imploded to the extent they might not be able to field a team for 2023-24.
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Not field a team for baseball? OMG! This will horribly, adversely affect the quality of education at Northwestern! After all, don’t most of the applicants apply there because of their fantastic baseball team? I just don’t see how a college can fulfill its educational mission without a men’s baseball team.
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Why is this snarky comment directed at me? I didn’t say anything to the effect that losing the baseball team would impact NU’s educational mission or quality.
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IMO, there is no way this coach didn’t know what was going on.
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Only because it was a reply to the info about the baseball team’s troubles, as a reply indicating how ridiculous it is that so much emphasis is placed on college sports, when the colleges are supposedly focused on education, as opposed to fielding sports teams. It wasn’t personally directed at you - it was a response to the info that you posted.
Honestly, the emphasis placed on college sports teams should call into question their tax-exempt status. After all, pro sports teams aren’t tax exempt. And athlete-students are admitted to these selective schools with far lower academic qualifications, based upon the expectation that they will play sports for the schools. Sure, maybe the football and basketball teams earn a little money on ticket sales, but for most schools, are they really a huge fundraiser? All the other sports teams have to be a financial drain on the schools. When was the last time that anyone bought a ticket to watch the school volleyball team?
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I get that you don’t support sports in college as currently constructed, but that’s not going to change anytime soon, and there’s no need for all the snark. The whole discussion about tax exempt status, athlete admission standards (which is maybe an issue for 50 of 3,000 four year schools?) and the rest is off topic for this thread. You could always start another thread.
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What about other schools ? This isn’t only happening at NU.
At Pat F learned this somewhere - in his playing and / or coaching career.
Do kids from other schools now come forward ?
What are other coaches doing now to alter their practices ?
I’m sure a lot of nervousness is out there.
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