Why Pat Fitzgerald will never leave Northwestern for another school

I am tired.

One of the favorite pastimes of reporters and fans is speculating every fall when Northwestern has success that their young head coach Pat Fitzgerald will one day leave Northwestern for a bigger program. First it was Notre Dame until everyone realized that Fitz hates Notre Dame. Then it was Michigan until we learned that Fitz actually rejected Michigan’s attempt to interview him. Thankfully, Iowa was never mentioned by anyone.

Now, it’s Texas and USC. In a seemingly perfectly timed column (Texas and USC both suffered embarrassing losses last Saturday), Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune argues that these two programs are the most likely destinations for Fitz to head to if Texas blows him away with a big salary offer or if he decides to head west to hang with his buddy Pat Haden at USC.

I have been very snarky about this on Twitter all day, which earned me a couple of pointed direct messages and an unfollow from Greenstein.

Okay, fine. Maybe I deserved that. I don’t report on Northwestern anymore and my current job is a credit repair salesman. There is no reason for Greenstein to follow me anymore.

But I did report on Northwestern. For five years, I covered Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats for WNUR Sports (radio) and NNN Sports (TV) when I was a student at NU. I went to every practice that was open to the media and every Monday press conference. For five years, I watched Fitzgerald and the Wildcats grow and set the groundwork for what we see now. I even reported for the Pat Fitzgerald Show during its first season. Fitz and I didn’t see eye-to-eye a lot, but we had a productive working relationship.

I often feel a special connection to that time because my freshman year was 2006, the same year Fitz became NU’s head coach. People know that I am a HUGE Northwestern fan and can be quite emotional about the ‘Cats, which is correct. But when I was a student reporter I took pride in separating my fandom from my reporting. Now, I no longer report so I am free to be an irrational, crazy fan, which is really fun.

But let’s put the reporting hat back on for a second.

Fitzgerald is a fascinating person. College football is filled with a lot of people who talk the talk about academics and loyalty, but don’t walk the walk. I am not here to make moral judgments. I am rather dispassionate about the “right way to win” or whatever you want to call it. College sports is a circus. But as an observer, I can tell you that Pat Fitzgerald practices what he preaches, to a sometimes extreme level. 

Greenstein has a theory that Texas and USC are the most likely destinations for Fitz to head to and his primary source is “an associate of Fitzgerald’s” who agrees with him on those two points. But Texas and USC are REALLY random choices and it’s quite a coincidence that the associate agreed on those exact destinations. My theory (I am allowed to have theories too) is that Teddy asked the associate “would Texas and USC make sense as a destination for Fitzgerald?” and the associate said “yes.” Because, of course, on the surface, those programs are amazing. However I suspect if Teddy had asked about Alabama and Stanford he would have gotten the exact same answer. I respect Teddy and his reporting but this is a rather strange article.

The argument for Texas centers around recruiting and money. There is no doubt that Texas is probably the best school in the country to recruit from and they have tons of money (Longhorn Network). That’s not really an argument for Pat Fitzgerald to coach at Texas. That’s an argument for ANY coach to coach at Texas. Sure, NU recruits in Texas a lot, but what major program doesn’t? They could throw cash at any coach in America and I wouldn’t blame that coach for taking the offer.

Except Pat Fitzgerald would not take that offer.

That sounds insane. What coach would turn down a potential salary of more than six million dollars and the chance to get most of your recruits from the most talent rich state in the nation? 

I’ll tell you who. Fitzgerald is, as his father is quoted as saying in the Greenstein article, definitely his own man. In fact, he’s one of the most unique people I have ever met. 

He once refused to speak to a student reporter because the reporter was wearing a Syracuse hat (Syracuse was not on the schedule that year). He once did a mic check on the Pat Fitzgerald Show by listing off all the schools he hated (Notre Dame, Stanford, etc). He even mixed in a seemingly random high school. I asked him why he hated that school and he said “we could never beat them when I played in high school.” Do you guys really think he would coach at USC, the school that beat NU in the 1996 Rose Bowl?! Not a chance.

Fitzgerald holds grudges like no one else in America (a fact that I find endlessly amusing and fun by the way, nothing beats a good grudge). He probably still doesn’t like me because a freshman running back said on camera that Fitz hated Iowa (he broke his leg against them in 1995, among, many, many other very justifiable reasons) and I immediately posted it to the NNN website. That’s okay Fitz, I like you. Can we be Facebook friends again? 

The reason why he holds these grudges is I think very calculated and smart. He treats this job at Northwestern as NU vs. the rest of the FBS (and whatever FCS schools are on the schedule, sorry, Maine). If you’re not with the NU Football Family, you are against it.

When you’re the underdog, that’s the only way to go about it. Bill Simmons always talks about the “nobody believes in us theory!” of sports. This is a theory Fitz lives by. His quest to get Northwestern respect will not cease, not even when Northwestern wins the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1949. He’s not some mercenary head coach like Nick Saban (who is great at what he does, but not loyal, which is fine). Fitzgerald’s blood might literally be purple. He always talks about being a zero star recruit. His whole LIFE has been as someone who is motivated by disrespect.

That makes Northwestern the perfect fit for him and vice versa. Because Northwestern NEVER gets any respect. Heck, they were in the top 25 this week but were not featured on SportsCenter despite dominating another BCS team in Syracuse. No highlights were shown that night. None. During College Football Final, they showed maybe two highlights and both analysts literally said nothing (Lou Holtz apparently also holds grudges, sorry ’bout it). Any time they do get coverage, it’s some stupid “Revenge of the Nerds” article we see trotted out every year as often as the job rumors. 

Fitz is fiercely loyal to his players and expects the same in return. As people who follow the program know, he will never drop a scholarship offer because of injury, he will drop a scholarship offer if you have verbally committed to NU and visit another school. 

Northwestern is Pat Fitzgerald. Pat Fitzgerald is Northwestern. He was born and raised in Chicagoland. He has raised his family here. Back in high school, yeah, he wanted to go to Notre Dame, but they didn’t show him enough respect, so he chose Northwestern and has never looked back. 

There is one scenario where Pat Fitzgerald could leave. That’s if NU hires a new president and athletic director who decide that athletics are a waste of time. That’s not happening. Morty and Jim Phillips are also going to be here for awhile. Their replacements won’t be dumb enough to alienate thousands of NU alumni by ignoring athletics. Cash is king afterall, as Greenstein points out in his article. The 1970’s and ’80s are over.

Pat Fitzgerald was here as a player when the miracle 1995 turnaround happened. He took over the program under tragic circumstances after Randy Walker died. Fitz was here for the beginning of a new era in NU football, he’s going to be there to see it to its logical conclusion: a national title. (For people who think this is ridiculous, Fitz will gladly remind you that the 1995 team was ranked #3 in the nation). He’s not Gary Barnett, who for all the good he did, was always looking for greener pastures. He is Pat Fitzgerald, the most unique, determined, loyal person I have ever met. Fitzgerald is a true believer in the Wildcat Way.

And he’ll be a Wildcat for life. So please, everyone, let’s not bring this up ever again. I am so, very, very, tired.

Good night and Go ‘Cats.