Why Pat Fitzgerald’s response to Northwestern scandal was unacceptable

Northwestern parted ways with head coach Pat Fitzgerald after news broke of hazing allegations within the program. The head coach’s response to the scandal was not nearly good enough, says On3’s J.D. PicKell.

“Pat Fitzgerald maintained that he did not know about what was going on in that locker room, still maintains that and I understand that there is some conversation around the money that he could get from Northwestern and all that,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. 

“Looking at this situation, saying I didn’t know is not the correct answer. It’s not good enough. Not good enough for me. Wasn’t good enough for Northwestern, shouldn’t be good enough for anybody in that locker room.”

Fitzgerald, as the head coach, is not just working on the football product on the field. He is in charge of all comings and goings of a program.

“Because when you’re the head football coach, you are responsible for everything within that operation,” PicKell said. “Nutrition, academics, strength and conditioning, what you do on Saturdays, that locker room, you’re responsible for all of it, and saying I didn’t know that is nowhere near good enough. That nowhere near excuses you from your responsibilities of having to take care of what’s supposed to go on in that locker room.”

Ultimately, Fitzgerald going from a two-week suspension to fired was the best move for the school.

“And so for this to go on under his watch, I don’t have any insight as to Pat Fitzgerald personally, but just the issue here, ‘I don’t know’ is not good enough,” PicKell said. “I think Northwestern did the right thing … But with the details that came out for you to oversee this operation, ‘I don’t know’ isn’t the correct answer, doesn’t cut it for me. And as soon as these details came out, as soon as everything came out about what happened in those locker rooms, it was over. Like they fired him last night, but it was over as soon as those details came out.”

Keeping Fitzgerald on as a suspended coach, especially during the upcoming Big Ten media days, would’ve been a bad look.

“Because what was Northwestern gonna do? You’re gonna try them out there for Big Ten media days here on July 26? Go sit down and answer questions? I promise you this, there would not have been one football question asked,” PicKell said. “It would have just been a bloodbath. So that was one option. Could have done that. Let’s say you see that through you say hey, we’re gonna stick with Pat Fitzgerald. We’re gonna let him keep coaching. Do you think any kid is committing to Northwestern after hearing about what is allegedly happening to freshmen?”

Not only would the recruiting take a massive hit, it would cause a domino effect for a Power Five program already on the downswing.

“Take it a step further, do you think any parent in their right mind is allowing their kid to go play for Pat Fitzgerald after figuring out what happened or hearing about what happened within that locker room,” PicKell said. “There is no shot and the operation as a whole was already in a tough spot. They were already 0-11 on US soil last year and Pat Fitzgerald had some good years at Northwestern, but last year was not one of them. 

“They were 1-11 on the season. Okay, so the program was already in a bad spot already in a downtrend … And then recruiting again, reiterating what I just said probably wasn’t going to be in a great place going forward. It would have drawn this whole thing out and they would have eventually, in my opinion, had to fire him based on performance.”