After rumors swirling all week about Fitzgerald fostering a culture of hazing and enabling racism, the school has decided to let go of the coach after 17 seasons.
The list of college football coaches who mean more to there school than Pat Fitzgerald is slim, if it even exists at all. As a player and coach, Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to heights that would’ve been inconceivable before his arrival. Two conference championship appearances, three 10+ win seasons, 9 bowl appearances in an 11 season stretch, appearing in the top 25 in seven different seasons… all of that would have been impossible to fathom before Pat Fitzgerald.
Whether or not the accusations thrust upon the Northwestern program were true, the severity of them led to the “guilty until proven innocent” view that is so often seen in today’s climate. Whether it was fair or not could be debated all day. But Northwestern did what they had to do in order to protect their public image when they fired the greatest coach in their football history.
Now, a program that was already entering a pivotal 2023 season after winning 4 games over the past 2 seasons is on the verge of an utter collapse.
What is the impact on the 2023 season?
I’ve been very transparent about my concerns with the 2023 Northwestern football team all off-season. However, I held out some hope that Pat Fitzgerald could pull off some magic like he’s done so many times in his career and pull off a bowl appearance – an immense accomplishment given the talent on this team. Now, all of that is out the window.
Northwestern must brace for a tumultuous 2023 that will likely result in very few wins. This season has now become about resetting the culture around the program. They must rediscover that tough-nosed, developmental mindset that Fitzgerald has carried with him for the past 17 years. It’s time to let the underclassmen take over the depth chart and give them the experience they need in order to have success later in their careers.
The Wildcats are also going to have to worry about transfers. Although the transfer portal is closed, graduate players are free to transfer whenever. With the loss of the head coach, I’d also assume any player would be granted a release from the program by the NCAA if they want to play 2023 elsewhere.
I’m most worried about QB Ben Bryant leaving Northwestern. He was going to be one of the few bright spots of the Northwestern offense as one of the most experienced QBs in the Big Ten West. With only one season left, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he decides to leave the program. There are plenty of quarterback-needy teams still remaining in college football, including Rutgers (who Northwestern happens to open the season with).
A mass-exodus of players via transfer is a legitimate possibility for Northwestern. If that happens, a disastrous 0-12 season is all of a sudden on the table.
Of course, Northwestern must also find a new coach for the 2023 season. Almost midway through July, it’s way too late to bring in an outside hire to lead this program. The Wildcats will have to name an internal interim head coach and reassess their candidates at the end of the season.
My assumption would be offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian will take over as interim head coach. Hired in December of 2019, he is one of the longer-tenured coaches on the staff. Bajakian also has extensive experience as an offensive coordinator at Boston College & Tennessee as well as the QB coach for the Bucaneers in the NFL and Cincinnati & Central Michigan in college.
Jeff Genyk could also be a candidate to earn the interim tag. He’s been the special teams and TE coach since 2018 and carries 25 years of coaching experience with him. He actually coached Pat Fitzgerald as a player, holding several different positions for the Wildcats from 1992-2003. Genyk is also the only coach on the staff to have D1 head coaching experience, leading Eastern Michigan from 2004-08.
2021 FCS Coordinator of the Year David Braun could also be a candidate. Although he hasn’t coached at the D1 level yet (he was just hired this winter), he’s had great defensive success at various schools throughout the past decade. Braun more closely aligns with Northwestern’s identity.
No matter who earns the interim head coach position, they will almost certainly have to re-interview for the position at the end of the season. That brings up the question…
Who will be Northwestern’s next head coach?
To be perfectly honest, Northwestern might be the most unappetizing head coaching position out of the entire Power-Five. There’s plenty of reasons why:
- Northwestern is the bottom-feeder of their conference
- That conference is only getting more competitive with the elimination of divisions and the arrival of USC & UCLA (with potentially more on the way)
- Illinois is not a talent-rich state for high school prospects
- Their NIL funding is virtually nonexistent
- Northwestern’s academic standards are as rigorous as anyone’s in the country
That being said, there are still a few intriguing outside names that I think could be interested in the head coaching position:
Jim Leonhard was a popular name in NFL circles as a defensive coordinator for years. He was so popular that Wisconsin named him the interim head coach last season. That position ended up getting filled by Luke Fickell, leaving Leonhard without a job. As a former Big Ten & NFL player, he fits the mold of Pat Fitzgerald. At only 40 years old, it might be tough for him to pass up a head coach offer. It also helps that he’ll be able to stick it to his alma mater that let him go.
David Shaw has an offensive background as head coach but still seems to fit that hard-nosed, Fitzgerald mold. The 4x Pac-12 COTY was let go after last season after failing to win more than 4 games since 2018. But Stanford is an incredibly difficult school to find sustained success at. After spending 12 seasons as their head coach, I think the Shaw brand staled out and he needed a change of scenery. He didn’t gain a lot of off-season interest this year despite only being 50 years old. I fully expect Northwestern to give him a call this season.
Brian Hartline is going to be on virtually every school’s short list for head coach until he either leaves Ohio State or becomes their head coach. After showing no signs of interest in Cincinnati’s attempt to lure him out of Columbus, I’d be shocked if Hartline decides to leave for Northwestern. But if Northwestern wants to make a serious investment in their football program and shell out a bag for a big-name coach, Hartline would be the guy given his unmatched recruiting ability. And if the bag is big enough, Hartline would at least listen.
Al Golden was once donned as the savior of Miami after taking over as head coach in 2011 – but that only lasted 5seasons. He has since bolstered his resume with stops at the Lions and Bengals before being named Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator last season. Golden was born in New Jersey and attended Penn State, so he is somewhat familiar with Big Ten territory. I am sure he is looking for a path back to being head coach but has yet to gain much steam in any of the previous off-seasons. With now 30 years of coaching experience (10 as a head coach), Northwestern would be wise to talk with Al Golden.
Curt Cignetti is the head coach of D1AA’s James Madison. He has passed up coordinator roles at bigger schools to be a head coach since 2011, coaching at IUP and Elon before joining JMU in 2019. He played QB at West Virginia from 1979-1982 and was a member of Saban’s original staff at Alabama in 2007. The Pittsburgh-native would likely only consider leaving JMU for another head coach gig – something Northwestern should consider doing given Cignetti’s experience.
Parting Thoughts
We may never find out the truth about what’s been going on inside the Northwestern locker rooms for the past two decades. The allegations are loud, but so is the support that so many former players gave to Pat Fitzgerald in the past few days. But just for a second, let’s remove the coach from the man and appreciate what Fitzgerald has been able to do in his tenure.
Before Pat Fitzgerald arrived as a wrecking-ball of a linebacker in the 1990s, you’d have to go all the way back to 1971 to find the last time Northwestern finished above .500. Before Fitzgerald, Northwestern had appeared in only 1 bowl – and that was all the way back in 1948. That was also the last time the Wildcats finished the season ranked in the AP Poll.
Before Fitzgerald, Northwestern held a record of 439-589-40 (43% winning percentage). Despite going 4-20 over the past 2 seasons, Pat Fitzgerald still finished his Northwestern coaching career with a 110-101 record (52% winning percentage). Through 2020, his winning percentage was 57%.
It’s hard to describe just how bad Northwestern had been for the 50 years before Pat Fitzgerald, which makes it all the more shocking how relevant they have been for the past 20 years.
Time alone will determine Pat Fitzgerald’s true legacy. Maybe one day down the road, these allegations will be forgotten or disproven and he will be welcomed back at midfield of a Northwestern game, showered with applause. Until then, there’s only one thing we know for sure:
Pat Fitzgerald is Northwestern football.