Outside Topic OT. Fitzgerald fired at NW

Outside Topic OT. Fitzgerald fired at NW - Printable Version

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OT. Fitzgerald fired at NW - lex24 - 07-07-2023

Hazing. Hard to believe in this day and age that crap goes on. Not only cause it’s wrong, but because it can sour players and push them to the portal. 2 week suspension. I don’t know the details, but depending on the severity of the hazing, I question if the punishment is sufficient.

Also, I’d use this against NW in recruiting. Big time. You really want your son to play for a coach that allows that?

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - BobK - 07-07-2023

Hazing at UC Davis just two years ago Coach fired

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - terry - 07-07-2023

(07-07-2023, 08:25 AM)lex24 Wrote: Hazing. Hard to believe in this day and age that crap goes on. Not only cause it’s wrong, but because it can sour players and push them to the portal. 2 week suspension. I don’t know the details, but depending on the severity of the hazing, I question if the punishment is sufficient.

Also, I’d use this against NW in recruiting. Big time. You really want your son to play for a coach that allows that?

A two week suspension in July? That's pretty convenient.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - CowboyIndian - 07-07-2023

(07-07-2023, 09:00 AM)BobK Wrote: Hazing at UC Davis just two years ago Coach fired

Hawkins?

Local high school here in far NorCal....where some absolutely brutal hazing was going on with the football team. Coaches pleaded ignorance but for some reason decided to find employment elsewhere.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - BobK - 07-07-2023

Sorry at UC Davis baseball

Big hazing at a major sport HS in So Cal with serious injuries. Al white washed

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - JohnR34231 - 07-07-2023

He (kind of) recruited my son to play for NW a number of years ago.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - msqueri - 07-07-2023

I've been wondering what it would take for the Shaw-ification of Northwestern's program to be put out of its misery. This story raises a bale of hay that could break the camel's back. Like Stanford was with Shaw, I assume Northwestern is influenced by a combination of legendary/unprecedented prior success, Northwestern Man goodwill, and we're not Nebraska pretentiousness to resist accountability for a failing head coach much longer than virtually any other Power Five program would. But if Fitzgerald is bringing disgrace and scandal in addition to 14 wins in four years....a smart program would use this as the rationale to move on.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - newguy - 07-07-2023

(07-07-2023, 08:25 AM)lex24 Wrote: Also, I’d use this against NW in recruiting.

i don't know if this is true, but i heard somewhere that Fitzgerald has recruited against Stanford by name.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - needle - 07-08-2023

Quote:A former Northwestern University football player told The Daily some of the hazing conduct investigated by the university involved coerced sexual acts. A second player confirmed these details.

The player also told The Daily that head coach Pat Fitzgerald may have known that hazing took place.

https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/07/08/top-stories/former-nu-football-player-details-hazing-allegations-after-coach-suspension/

I would be shocked if Fitzgerald is still Northwestern’s head coach by August.

Sexual hazing is completely unacceptable.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - CowboyIndian - 07-08-2023

(07-08-2023, 02:10 PM)needle Wrote: Sexual hazing is completely unacceptable.

C'mon, Weird Al....do your Marvin Gaye thing!

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - norcard10 - 07-08-2023

Investigation indicates coaches did not know despite what player alleged. Let's not throw stones at others. We should be better than that.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - Hurlburt88 - 07-09-2023

I read this morning that Northwestern's president is reconsidering Fitz's penalty. Sounds like there is high disgust in his office and from the Trustees. He is also pretty new, so may really want to get this right.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - pefloresjr - 07-09-2023

(07-08-2023, 11:12 PM)norcard10 Wrote: Investigation indicates coaches did not know despite what player alleged. Let's not throw stones at others. We should be better than that.

The seemingly new information from the newspaper article seems to indicate that the investigation will not be the final word. Even the investigation gave a very corporate, legalese statement about it. "The University said in the executive summary . . . that while it did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing activity 'there had been significant opportunities to discover and report the conduct.'" I have been involved in labor law investigations for decades and it is not at all unusual to see a report that is thorough but still focused on minimizing potential liability to the company (who is paying for the investigation/report). If the report concludes that the coaches maybe should have known but we can't prove they did one way or the other, and the coaches say they didn't know, then the liability to the University is limited.

The University President is obviously reconsidering the two week suspension which is an incredibly light slap on the wrist based on the findings even before the new information came out. With this new information and the public relations nightmare of the University engaging in a cover up of sexual hazing, I would not be surprised if even more information comes out and the University decides to terminate Fitzgerald. One thing is certain, we have not seen the end of this story.

Cheers,
Pete F.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - lex24 - 07-10-2023

(07-09-2023, 09:22 PM)pefloresjr Wrote:
(07-08-2023, 11:12 PM)norcard10 Wrote: Investigation indicates coaches did not know despite what player alleged. Let's not throw stones at others. We should be better than that.

The seemingly new information from the newspaper article seems to indicate that the investigation will not be the final word. Even the investigation gave a very corporate, legalese statement about it. "The University said in the executive summary . . . that while it did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing activity 'there had been significant opportunities to discover and report the conduct.'" I have been involved in labor law investigations for decades and it is not at all unusual to see a report that is thorough but still focused on minimizing potential liability to the company (who is paying for the investigation/report). If the report concludes that the coaches maybe should have known but we can't prove they did one way or the other, and the coaches say they didn't know, then the liability to the University is limited.

The University President is obviously reconsidering the two week suspension which is an incredibly light slap on the wrist based on the findings even before the new information came out. With this new information and the public relations nightmare of the University engaging in a cover up of sexual hazing, I would not be surprised if even more information comes out and the University decides to terminate Fitzgerald. One thing is certain, we have not seen the end of this story.

Cheers,
Pete F.

Frankly, whether he actually knew or not doesn’t matter to me. It’s his program. And this wasn’t an isolated instance: “ Participation in or knowledge of these hazing activities, which were not detailed in the summary, was “widespread” across NU football players, the investigation found. ”
Thus, either he was guilty of gross negligence or malfeasance. Either way, if I’m President, he’s gone.

I read Gary Shaw’s Meat on the Hoof” decades ago. About Texas football 1960’s. Some similar “hazing” stuff. Including things of a sexually humiliating nature. Then there was the punt drill. When they wanted a guy off the team. They’d line up the punt team and punt. The receiver had no teammates. One on 11. Truly disgusting stuff. I assumed that sort of crap doesn’t happen in this day and age.

Edit: I read up a bit on Gary Shaw. Allegedly was homeless for a time and then diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Some question the accuracy of his book.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - washingtonismoney - 07-10-2023

Some players claiming a "culture" of enabling racism: https://twitter.com/thedailynu/status/1678456863405293573

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card - 07-10-2023

My Dad used to tell about his first day of football practice here at Dickinson State. First item of business was kickoff practice for the kickoff team. New guys were on kick return. Dad catches the kick and . . . runs through the veterans for a "touchdown."

And they really were veterans, in both senses. Many of them went to or returned to college after serving in Korea. So the coach reads them the riot act about letting a skinny little freshman run right through them.

So they run it again. As Dad told the story, as the ball was in the air he thought "this is not going to end well."

So he catches the kick again, heads up field and . . . they hit him so hard he does not wake up for two days.

Not hazing. Just a good clean hit.

But things were different in the fifties. The day Dad finally woke up, he went to practice.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - OutsiderFan - 07-10-2023

These kinds of situations are always the same:

- Someone makes an allegation
- Someone refutes the allegation
- Someone investigates
- Someone decides on a punishment if there is to be one
- Someone complains it is too harsh or too inconsequential
- If the coach knew, he has to be fired, if he didn't know it shows he has no control of his program and should be fired

Listening to ESPN Radio this am discuss this topic, I heard:

- Allegation was made
- School investigated
- AD handed down 2-week suspension to Fitzgerald
- University President is walking back that as full punishment
- Coaches claim to have known nothing
- Other players say nothing happened
- The player complaining about hazing is said to have told other players he was going to take the program down

Who is telling the truth? Will it ever be known? Can a school fire a coach based on unproven allegations of misconduct?

Northwestern's best outcome would be if Fitzgerald resigns voluntarily, knowing that he is a distraction with all this turmoil and mistrust having bred in his program. But he could feel he is being targeted and not want to give up a high-paying job.

All I know is it is a mess of a situation and I am not going to draw any conclusions about anything being alleged without a whole hell of a lot more evidence and fact confirming.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - Spiny_Norman - 07-10-2023

(07-10-2023, 12:08 PM)OutsiderFan Wrote: These kinds of situations are always the same:

- Someone makes an allegation

- Someone refutes the allegation

- Someone investigates

- Someone decides on a punishment if there is to be one

- Someone complains it is too harsh or too inconsequential

- If the coach knew, he has to be fired, if he didn't know it shows he has no control of his program and should be fired

Don't forget the step where social media decides one way or the other. That's what matters, isn't it?

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - M T - 07-10-2023

(07-10-2023, 03:33 PM)Spiny_Norman Wrote: Don't forget the step where social media decides one way or the other. That's what matters, isn't it?

Hmm… I thought it was the student newspaper……

It is July, in case people forgot.

RE: OT. Fitzgerald suspended at NW - dabigv13 - 07-10-2023

Quote:- Other players say nothing happened
- The player complaining about hazing is said to have told other players he was going to take the program down

Has this been reported anywhere? I haven't seen those allegations but have not been reading comprehensively on this.