Crime & Law
Ex-Northwestern Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald Settles Lawsuit Following His Firing Amid Hazing Allegations
The Walter Athletic Facility and Ryan Fieldhouse are pictured on the Northwestern campus in a 2023 file photo. (Joe Hendrickson / iStock)
Former Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald has reached a settlement to resolve his lawsuit against the university, more than two years after he was fired amid allegations of a widespread hazing scandal.
Fitzgerald and his attorneys announced the “satisfactory settlement” in a news release Thursday, though terms of the agreement were not immediately known.
The longtime Wildcat head coach sued Northwestern in October 2023 for $130 million in damages, claiming he was “wrongfully and illegally terminated” and denying he had any knowledge of his team’s hazing activities.
“For the past two years,” he said in a statement Thursday, “I have engaged in a process of extensive fact and expert discovery, which showed what I have known and said all along — that I had no knowledge of hazing ever occurring in the Northwestern football program, and that I never directed or encouraged hazing in any way.”
In his statement, Fitzgerald did acknowledge that student athletes did engage in hazing during his tenure, but he stressed that he only learned the details of this through the discovery phase of his lawsuit.
“I am extremely disappointed that members of the team engaged in this behavior and that no one reported it to me,” he said, “so that I could have alerted Northwestern’s Athletic Department and administrators, stopped the inappropriate behavior, and taken every necessary step to protect Northwestern’s student athletes.”
Earlier this year, Northwestern settled dozens of lawsuits filed by former players related to the hazing allegations.
“Northwestern’s number one priority is the health and safety of all members of its community, including our student athletes,” the university said in a statement Thursday. “The University has taken action to ensure hazing will not occur again, including new training and additional steps for feedback and reporting.”
Despite the “highly inappropriate conduct” brought to light within the football program, Northwestern on Thursday acknowledged that evidence uncovered during the lawsuit “did not establish” that any player reported the hazing to Fitzgerald or that he “condoned or directed any hazing.”
“Moreover,” the university said, “when presented with the details of the conduct, he was incredibly upset and saddened by the negative impact this conduct had on players within the program.”
Former football players in 2023 alleged that upperclassmen on the team pressured team members into participating in hazing activities. An investigation led by former state executive inspector general Maggie Hickey found “evidence to corroborate claims made by an anonymous whistleblower regarding hazing activities and events,” the university said at the time.
According to The Daily Northwestern, a former player described a hazing activity he referred to as “running,” which was used to punish players for mistakes made during games or practice. When this occurred, the selected player would be restrained by several upperclassmen wearing “Purge-like” masks, who would begin “dry-humping” the player in a dark locker room, The Daily Northwestern reported.
Fitzgerald, who amassed a record of 110-101 in his 17 seasons as head coach, was initially suspended during the summer of 2023 following an independent investigation into the hazing allegations.
But University President Michael Schill opted to fire him days later due to Fitzgerald’s “failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program.” Schill maintained that the hazing within the football program was “widespread and clearly not a secret within the program” adding that the team’s culture had, in some ways, been “broken.”
Fitzgerald has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of these activities during his time as coach.
In his statement, he claimed a “rush to judgment in the media” during the summer of 2023 caused his family “great stress, embarrassment, and reputational harm.”
“Though I maintain Northwestern had no legal basis to terminate my employment for cause under the terms of my Employment Agreement,” he said, “in the interest of resolving this matter and, in particular, to relieve my family from the stress of ongoing litigation, Northwestern and I have agreed to a settlement, and I am satisfied with the terms of the settlement.”
The university on Thursday said it “appreciates” Fitzgerald’s 26 years as a player and coach at Northwestern and “wishes (him) the best in resuming his football career.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
