NW Fitzgerald
- Thread starter edub72
- Start date
The report was published by the Northwestern University newspaper. Do you have some inside knowledge?
Multiple former players as far back as early 2000s have confirmed several of the abusive practices going on. No place in sports for this … he shouldn’t and won’t survive this. NW also downplayed and buried sexual assault of cheerleader who was required to meet with donors and it ultimately ended up resulting in new AD being fired after the victim refused to be silenced.
NW was 1-11 last year. If they were 11-1...would the circumstances be different? I'm thinking...maybe Yes. Too bad these matters can't be judged on their own merits...but afterall....its all about the benjamins.......even at Northwestern.
If you read the accusations, hell to the freaking no, nothing would be different.
Pat Fitzgerald needs a damn good lawyer, or 2.
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Read the detailed accusations in the NW newspaper … there’s no getting this tooth paste back in the tube.
8 guaranteed years remaining on Pat Fitzgerald's contract, the buyout reportedly is around 51.7 million, and there will be a lot of lawyering and negotiating before anything.
The power of the media and mob. Is there proof Fitz was aware? And don’t tell me he should be aware of what 100 players are doing all the time, if we applied the same concept to parenthood when our kids mess up - how many would still be parents? Call CPS, lose your job when you’re kid messes up. Weird times, blame is the game - somebody MUST be responsible.. how about the damn kids, they’re 18+?
They are always aware, probably after the fact. The question is, could he have prevented it. Did he allow it to continue while ignoring the problem.
These are the questions that should be answered before granting the mobs wish. Also not sure how you prevent something when acknowledged he knew after the fact, future instances I guess? Just not sure justice is being played out in many of these decisions. Again, why aren’t the kids/adults performing the acts held responsible. My parents weren’t held responsible for my actions after 18.
The firing of Fitzgerald, 48, comes after the school announced Friday that he'd be suspended without pay for two weeks this summer following the conclusion of a university-commissioned investigation into allegations made by a former Northwestern football player. The school said the investigation, which was initiated in January and conducted by an outside law firm, did not find "sufficient" evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing -- though there were "significant opportunities" to find out about it.
The days of a head coach burying his head in the sand while outrageous behavior--criminal behavior in the case of Jerry Sandusky--is going on in the locker room are long gone. That is the reality of today's college football world. Didn't work for a legend like Joe Paterno. Didn't work for Art Briles.
I ask myself, where were the team captains when this stuff was going on? How could they have possibly thought this was appropriate "team bonding" behavior?
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What is telling is that this did not happen at a football factory; quite the opposite. A very prestigious academic institution. Just goes to show that it can happen anywhere.
SHOULD HAVE KNOWN is a big question. Frankly very hard to prove.
Did he put in place or allow an atmosphere for this to occur is a better question.
Now supposedly this had been going on for nearly his entire term as HC. So that fact comes down harder on him; if it had only happened in the last say 5 years or so it would not look so bad for him.
And yes the media and the mob are as usual neglecting to blame the legally adult people who perpetrated the abuses.
SHOULD HAVE KNOWN is a big question. Frankly very hard to prove.
Did he put in place or allow an atmosphere for this to occur is a better question.
Now supposedly this had been going on for nearly his entire term as HC. So that fact comes down harder on him; if it had only happened in the last say 5 years or so it would not look so bad for him.
And yes the media and the mob are as usual neglecting to blame the legally adult people who perpetrated the abuses.
If they can find " cause " they might not owe him anything. Guessing there will be a settlement at some point.
Other players say they did happen. Unless you were a regular at Northwestern practices, you have no inside information.
Fitzgerald has been at NW since 2006. There really shouldn't be much going on in the football program that he isn't privy to. Granted, both of his coordinators are recent appointments....but that won't provide cover for the head coach. I question one thing, however, that shouldn't be: Which transgression was considered the more serious? Hazing or sexual assault?
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This. He either knew or he didn’t know and since he’s the HC, either would be cause for dismissal.
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