Freshmen were held, while other players performed "sexual acts" in the locker room? WTH?!?! There is something very odd about all of this-- so odd as to seem almost unbelievable.
Yeah, you knew that was coming based on all the noise in the system. I always thought that guy was really good (sans looking the other way on the hazing stuff) I mean his teams were always competitive. He did a lot with much less talent then some other programs. The school itself is upper tier academically. After two brutal losing seasons they can go after someone new unobstructed. Meanwhile, in Gator town we snagged a nice Lineman. Me likey. Go Gators.
Indeed. It has a similar stench to the Penn State fiasco. Expect lawsuits. More to follow... Go Gators.
Interesting point, in case anyone did not read to the end of the article. "The hazing was well-known by many in the program, though the investigator failed to find any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald himself knew about it" May or may not mean anything.
No stench could touch State College PA after that awful situation. The entire program, university, faculty and student body should have been put in a decade long time-out after that. And at least a dozen more should have gone to prison.
Lots of odd things about the story. If NU wanted to retain Fitz they had a great distraction land in their lap today with the baseball coach story. He seemed like a perfect sacrificial lamb. Meanwhile those that tried to protect Fitz before today just made his situation worse. The initial 2-week suspension made NU look like they were tying to sweep the story under the rug. The letter from the players that came out over the weekend supporting Fitz was terribly ill-conceived IMO and just raised more suspicions.
Pretty damning… The former player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told ESPN on Sunday that hazing was organized and widespread in Northwestern's program, often led by a group of older players called the "Shrek gang." The group would lead a hazing activity called "running," usually against freshmen or younger players who had made mistakes in practice, he said. According to the former player, older players wearing masks would restrain the victim in a dark locker room and engage in sexualized behavior. The former player said he was "run" as a freshman and also said Fitzgerald signaled for players to be added to "Shrek's list" with a specific clapping motion during practice. He said he saw Fitzgerald make the motion at least five times since the 2020 season.
If I was a coach at any program, I would call a meeting, inform the players it is mandatory to report any hazing incident, and explain in no uncertain terms that behavior is not tolerated.
School President is in his first year there. Had to make a statement. Fitz was the winningest coach in NU history. But he went 1-11 last year. I just wonder in a bad way what would be happening there if he was 10-2 last year.
Northwestern hazing under Pat Fitzgerald proves meathead culture still permeates game at highest levels
Not sure if he lands a job immediately after this. College coaching hires can be slimy but Art Briles had trouble and Hugh Freeze just got back to a big time coaching spot. May take a few years but he will be back when the stink wears off.
He looks like the type of dude that would be involved in some weird hazing. Some weird and disgusting shit goes on in the meathead/fratboy environment. Heard about some weird “biscuit game” that goes on at tamu, and that’s probably not the only place that happens. I gagged a little just typing that.
Suspension for a few more weeks through Big Ten media days, some mandatory counseling, additional monitors put in place to prevent it from happening again. In other words, everything they can do to not fire him.
As a father of three at NU (two grads and one rising sophomore) this whole situation was very disconcerting to hear. I hope the interim and eventual new coach can move them past this.
