Football’s meaty culture still exists – even in one of the country’s most prestigious institutions. That was evident all weekend, culminating in Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald’s firing on Monday.
What was once accepted – and has since been rejected – still holds true today. This is of course tragic. The only difference is the level of surprise in the 20th and 21st centuries. Apparently we haven’t gotten that far yet.
Green Bay Packers lineman Jerry Kramer wrote a bestseller in 1968 about how the great Vince Lombardi pushed his players to the limit to win championships.
Fitzgerald didn’t have the romanticized championship chase as a (bad) excuse. Northwestern has pushed themselves twice since 2018, battling for the Big Ten title. In the last two seasons, the result also fell to 4-20. And then, in 2023, what was happening behind the scenes came to light.
Abuse is abuse and the former Northwestern coach reportedly ran a program where bullying became the norm. Within this culture, young players were reportedly “beaten dry” in the dark by upper-class men. A naked center hit the ball to a naked quarterback, proving… what exactly?
Certainly not that manly men would be shaped by that experience. The conclusion is that, incredibly, a quarter-century into the 21st century, the default attitude for some coaches is still this figurative sledgehammer: if you beat the players enough, they’ll be motivated enough.
The difference is that until now we thought we were left with these romanticized versions of bullying. Remember the Junction Boys, the so-called “survivors” of Bear Bryant’s preseason camp at Texas A&M? Frank Kush was a men’s designer in Arizona State, until his tactics proved way over the top.
44 years ago, a Sun Devils player filed a $1.1 million lawsuit alleging, among other things, that Kush punched him in the mouth. A month later, Kush was fired for interfering with the school’s investigation into the incident. That was during the Reagan administration. In 1978, Woody Hayes was fired at Ohio State and continued a culture by beating Clemson’s Charlie Bauman.
Monday was a reminder that default settings still exist at all levels. Miami Dolphins offense player Richie Incognito was suspended in 2014 after he and other players brutally taunted teammate Jonathan Martin.
What happened in Northwestern wasn’t Penn State or Baylor, but it was a systemic cultural problem and moral failure.
Former Penn State University defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been convicted of molesting boys. The reputation of Joe Paterno and several of his assistants was smeared, with the implication that even if they didn’t know, they should have known. A sexual abuse scandal cost Art Briles his job at Baylor. Most recently, the racism allegations cost Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz nothing. Ferentz is one of the few coaches in the game with a longer tenure (starting in 25th grade) than Fitzgerald had with the Cougars (17 years).
What happened at Northwestern was not only unnecessary, it was preventable. At least there were clear warning signs. In any case, Meathead culture prevailed.
At best, Fitzgerald was unaware of the chicane, despite running the program for nearly two decades. There are reports that a notice board in the locker room detailed the planned harassment, but Northwestern has been unable to find evidence that the coach was aware of the abuse. Still, Northwestern President Michael Schill, citing an independent investigation into the bullying allegations, admitted Monday that 11 players had confirmed such incidents.
It remains a breach of duty that Schill admitted to having learned of many details “only recently”. Such a significant investigation required a university president to monitor progress on a daily basis. Schill didn’t. Worse, he was poached by the student newspaper The Daily Northwestern, which ran reports over the weekend that — let’s face it — ultimately led to Fitzgerald being fired.
On Friday, Schill suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay. In a statement on Monday after his sacking, the manager revealed it was a mutually agreed penalty.
Northwestern, a private school, has declined to release details of the independent investigation. That needs to change if there is ever going to be a closure.
Fitzgerald, a College Football Hall of Fame linebacker for the Wildcats and 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year who led Northwestern to its greatest successes on the field, remains a legend at the school. Schill remains a largely unknown academic who may have screwed up both the investigation and the sentences.
Apparently there was additional information that Schill and the trustees either did not learn or did not act upon after a six-month investigation. In each case, they are involved in different ways.
If Fitzgerald didn’t know about the abuses, he definitely should have known. If the Northwestern administration knew 11 players confirmed their bullying allegations but decided on Friday that a two-week ban was sufficient, what changed on Monday?
Someone outside of Fitzgerald dropped the ball, and they won’t leave Northwestern without demanding a boatload of cash if they were fired for a reason, since that “reason” didn’t seem to exist for the university until a few days ago.
Fitzgerald released a statement late Monday saying his agent and attorney would “take the necessary steps to protect my rights consistent with the law.”
Hello, lawsuit. Goodbye resolution.
Players complained Monday night that following the announcement of Fitzgerald’s departure, Schill and sporting director Derrick Gragg “didn’t even have the guts” to reach out to them in person or answer questions on Zoom.
Whether Fitzgerald will coach again is hardly the main question. The question is will football finally and definitively emerge from the dark ages, beyond the fool culture that still clearly permeates the game.