you can start with the fact that whatever was going on was known by everyone in the program. no way this goes on for 15 plus years without everyone knowing. ultimately, it appears that Fitz failed NU.
but NU also failed. it failed because it failed to honor its processes for dealing with a crisis.
I really cannot sit here and write that Pat Fitzgerald should be the head coach today, that's not an argument I think anyone can win.
However, I can make a damn good argument that Pat Fitzgerald should be the coach based on how NU's own internal investigation and initial punishment.
This is where the problems start for Schill. I don't know anything about Schill. But I can guess that as an educator he likely felt, upon reflection, that he failed NU students by not taking stronger action against Fitz. While its easy to say he bowed to public pressure, probably just as much of the pressure was internal. Putting myself in his shoes, this is a no win situation so he acted how he thought was best and to his credit, he has owned it. Many leaders would not have gone that far, they would have pawned it off.
But at this point, right or wrong is out the window. Why? Because on Friday NU told the world its coach oversaw a program with systemic hazing but that what it found did not warrant more than a 2 week suspension.
At this point, Schill should have reached out to NU's outside counsel and said - I screwed up and I can't in good conscious let this go on - what do we do next? Based on how this went down, I don't see how this happened. The only one who knows the ins and outs of the contract is likely Fitz' agent. No way Gragg and Schill would not more than the salary and length.
The fact is that from a position of protecting NU financially, this is where I see the liability and where Fitz will ultimately get paid by NU. I heard at some point from someone much closer to NU football than I that Fitz was safe for this season no matter what because he was still relatively cheap but that after this coming season, he had an escalator clause that would make him paid within a certain tier of coaches - in other words he was due a big raise. I was told this could be a problem for Fitz if he did not right the ship on the field. In other words, Fitz was far from the lock to continue to be at NU. Imagine NU coming off a 3-4 win, at best 6 win season, and getting a $3 million raise. Fitz is going to be seeking this money. It's gonna be a big settlement no matter what. I can't see it coming in under $25 million.
Schill failed in protecting NU.
The other people who failed NU, Phillips and Morty. Phillips was a hands on AD. I can't imagine he did not at least suspect something was going on. He accepted it, whatever he knew. He should not have.
As for Morty, he failed NU because he is responsible for Gragg. Gragg has his own set of issues now and he should not survive what happened with baseball.
Honestly, if I was NU, I'd call in Lovie Smith. I'd ask him to take over for three years while the school figures out wtf it is going to do. Lovie won't win many games but he is, by all accounts, a reputable man who is immensely respected. From a culture standpoint, he would change everything. He would immediately change the narrative. After that three year period, I would hire Kafka if he's not already the head coach of a NFL team.
To say the least, this is a mess. I knew it was going to be a rough couple of years, now I think its going to be a return to the dark ages bc I don't see how NU moves forward over the next few seasons.
I think it was Coralspringscat who posted yesterday that it was his opinion NU was going to already struggle in the age of NIL, I think this is true. I had a friend who texted me last night that he thought this was NU's biggest issue as well because he talked to coach at non power 5 school and the coach told him that every recruit asks how much they would get under NIL. If its happening at a directional school in a small state, imagine what's going on in the Big10 and SEC.
