Former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald has proven that he knows how to win games in the Big Ten and could be a strong hire for Penn State or another school in the conference.
Fitzgerald was 110-101 across 17 seasons at Northwestern before being fired in 2023 after there were allegations of hazing within the football program.
He has since settled a lawsuit with Northwestern after suing the school for wrongful termination and is reportedly very interested in returning to the sidelines.
Pat Fitzgerald led Northwestern to Big Ten West titles in 2018 and 2020. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018 and also won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 2020.
ESPN’s Dan Wetzel spoke on the College GameDay podcast last month about how Wisconsin should go after Fitzgerald if that job opens up. However, he could be a strong hire for Penn State, too.
“You know, Pat Fitzgerald is sitting there… if I’m Wisconsin, I’m crawling to his place,” Wetzel said. “What happened with the lawsuit, he’s gotten cleared.
“I don’t want to use the exact language, but whatever. I’m hiring Pat Fitzgerald, I’m taking a look at Pat Fitzgerald. I want to hear how he would do it in this era, but that’s a great football coach.”
There’s no doubt that Penn State has more resources than Northwestern, and there are plenty of reasons to believe that Fitzgerald could be successful with the Nittany Lions.
Yes, college football is different now than it was when he left the sport, but Fitzgerald has found ways to win games and adapt throughout his career. Penn State is also in position to surround Fitzgerald with a strong staff if it opts to go that route, and he has plenty of connections after spending 25 years coaching college football.
“That’s a great call,” ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis said on the College GameDay podcast about Wisconsin or another program hiring Fitzgerald. “And he, I’m told, eager and ready to coach and wants a head coaching job like yesterday. So that’s a great call.”
Prior to getting into coaching, Pat Fitzgerald played at Northwestern and was a star linebacker for the Wildcats.
He won the Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Awards twice and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Fitzgerald also led Northwestern to back-to-back Big Ten titles. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and was a consensus first-team All-American.
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