Duke's Mike Elko emerges as potential candidate for Northwestern head coach opening

With the firing of Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern needs a new head football coach. This is coming with less than two months until the start of the regular season and after spring ball, meaning that the Wildcats need a new coach quickly.

One possible and interesting candidate who recently emerged is Mike Elko, the current head coach at Duke. As Bruce Feldman of The Athletic explained, the Duke head coach would make a ton of sense for Northwestern.

“The third Power 5 guy to keep an eye on is Elko, a [Dave] Clawson protege who had an amazing debut season in 2022, leading Duke to a 9-4 record,” Feldman said. “The 45-year-old from New Jersey makes a lot of sense on paper.”

For Northwestern, a big reason why Mike Elko would be an exciting candidate is his background. He went to an academically minded school, Penn, and has worked at different levels of academically minded schools, like Notre Dame, and most recently as a Power 5 head coach at Duke. So, he would feel comfortable in Evanston.

“He played DB in the Ivy League at Penn and then worked at Fordham, Richmond, Wake [Forest] and Notre Dame before taking over at Duke — those are a lot of prestigious academic schools. Duke obviously is still a basketball school and the ACC doesn’t have the money the Big Ten has, so Elko is one to keep an eye on. Although if he gets close to nine wins in Year 2, Northwestern probably won’t be the only Power 5 program taking a closer look at him.”

Elko turned being a successful defensive coordinator into being the head coach at Duke. He quickly turned that program from a 3-9 team to a 9-4 one. After going just 1-11 in 2022, Northwestern looks like it’s going to be a difficult rebuild. Someone who proved they can rebuild an academically minded school in a Power 5 conference quickly makes a lot of sense.

If this did happen, it would likely set off a series of coaching dominoes and reignite the coaching carousel, as Duke would need to find a new head coach quickly.

Northwestern will play at Duke in Week 3 of the 2023 college football season.

Pat Fitzgerald released a statement after being fired by Northwestern

Following his firing, Pat Fitzgerald met with the team for a meeting before releasing a statement on Northwestern’s decision to move on from him.

“I had the privilege of serving as the Head Football Coach at Northwestern University for the past 17 years. As a former Wildcat player who played a part in a remarkable transformation of our program, it was a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to lead the team. I take great pride in the achievements we accomplished during my tenure both on and off the field,” Fitzgerald said via Pete Thamel.

“I was surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment. Given this unexpected turn of events, I have entrusted my agent, Bryan Harlan, and legal counsel, Dan Webb from Winston & Strawn LLP, to take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.”

On3’s Andy Staples isn’t surprised that Fitzgerald has hired a lawyer, thanks to the money owed on his contract. Staples tweeted, “I’m told [Pat] Fitzgerald had about $42 million remaining on his deal.” So, there will likely be a fight over that buyout money.