We all are fully aware of Fitzgerald being fired. I really don’t think
that is the end of it and all will be put to bed. ESPN reported this
morning Fitz was surprised by the termination and he has sought the
advice of legal counsel and will pursue the matter. My guess is this is
far from over.
I know I have said this before but it is really hard to believe, at
least for me, that this could go on for a length of time and the Head
Coach knew nothing about it. These kinds of things are really hard to
keep quiet if they go on for a long time, and this apparently didn’t
just start happening a week ago.
John Papenhagen
“Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher.” ~ Ty Cobb
It seems to be following the usual playbook: coach fired, coach sues, coach and university settle out of court.
I can only think of a few exceptions, there was an assistant coach at Notre Dame whose case went to trial in 1998, the university lost. The monetary damages were probably minor compared to the bad PR Notre Dame got.
And Mike Leach’s estate is still working on a settlement with Texas Tech, a firing that occurred in 2009.
There’s too much money involved not to lawyer up. Unless NWU has a smoking gun, there’s going to be a settlement.
What is going to be interesting is who do they get to replace him? An interim coach? Those come from the assistant pool and who knows who’s tainted? Best bet is an NFL cast off like Cliff Kingsbury if they can find one. Maybe you can pay someone from a smaller school but you put someone else in a similar bind
From what I hear DC David Braun, who was hired in January, is the interim coach. Northwestern’s AD was in Europe when this mess broke, so I’m not sure that’s an official change yet.
I’m guessing he was picked because he probably hadn’t been there long enough to have been aware of hazing activities taking place, since as I understand it most of them took place in the pre-season, at Thanksgiving and over Christmas (presumably during preparation for bowl games.)
My guess is that none of the current coaches, including Braun, will be on staff after the 2023 season ends. I’m not sure Braun’s got the resume to justify being named the permanent head coach and a new coach brought in from outside with instructions to clean the stables is gonna sweep everybody out he can. Might make the roster changes at Colorado look minor. I’m just hoping the Cats have enough players to play their games afterwards.
There’s been an undercurrent in the hazing coverage suggesting that hazing activities are widespread in college football, in which case how do you find someone who hasn’t been somewhere where they’ve occurred?