There’s also no one who disputed that pretty severe hazing was the norm for a long time at NU under Fitz’s watch
Fitz fights back
- Thread starter Pulmocat
- Start date
Agreed but why then not ratchet up the suspension rather than fire him. I don’t really care if the President felt he had to overcompensate for the poor conclusion he reached initially. To fire him for that shows callous disregard for the contributions FItz made and continues to make to the University to this day. It also shows how oblivious they are about how hard it will be to find someone to replace him that even comes close. FItz was the perfect fit for NU and they let him go because the President didn’t have the balls to say I screwed up with the initial punishment and I am going to suspend hi. for half the season. NU is worse off without FItz and no one should be happy about that.
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I don’t call what transpired pretty severe hazing. I call what transpired, rightly or wrongly, common everyday occurrences that still go on in locker rooms to this day. 99.9% of the players had no problem with it.
still can’t comprehend how he apparently didn’t bother to actually read the report the school commissioned
What is the scenario where his reputation is restored? I don't see one.
This will be settled so as to not drag the story and the uni's name in the media for longer than it has to.
Eh, most players put up with it but I wouldn’t classify that as having no problem with it. Look, Fitz has said consistently that the buck stops with him in this program. He’s also made solemn promises to countless parents that he’d look after their kids. I doubt that that included inducting those kids into NU culture by subjecting them to hazing.
The story would have come out, no matter what.
I imagine Fitz determined what his own punishment would be, and it sounded really good among a few administrators and a few lawyers in a room.
What incredible failure(s) of leadership.
Bam. I can definitely see Fitz moving up to the NFL for a year or more, and really enjoying doing football football football at the highest level.
But there is one other college option I think he'd be tempted by in a year. If his son Jack leaves NU, which many of us think will happen, won't Fitz be tempted to not give up the opportunity to coach him in college? Assuming of course whichever college that is offers Fitz a job, probably as an assistant. Just throwing spaghetti at the wall here, but I could see that happening.
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Yes, but the atmosphere is a lot different if NU has already said something like "these are very serious allegations and we will not tolerate behavior like this in our programs" and given Fitz an extended suspension with actual teeth. And also if, when they revealed the punishment, they did a full press conference and answered questions. Because then if the whistleblower comes forward to the media, NU has already set the narrative - something very bad happened and NU took serious action. Does that guarantee that Fitz wouldn't still have been fired? No, but it makes it a heck of a lot less likely.
Regardless of whether he should have been fired on the merits of the case, I do believe that Fitz would still be employed if NU had handled this correctly.
I don't think I agree with this. It was clear as this story unfolded over the weekend that Fitz was going to lose his job. Schill had no choice. Now, if Schill had done what you suggest from the beginning, maybe he'll still have his own job in a couple months (i.e., I can't possibly imagine how this guy is going to retain the confidence of the NU faculty after this and I expect he will be fired before long too).
If Schill had written on Friday what he wrote yesterday and fired Pat from the beginning, I think that would have been a reasonable response and showed true leadership. If he wasn't prepared to make such a big decision so quickly (assuming he also just got the report), then he should have suspended Fitz indefinitely until further notice to give himself more time to sort through everything.
But by coming out with a two-week suspension as the response to what was, in the end, a pretty justifiable cause for termination two days later, it made him look like a coward who did not want to take on this burden of leadership. In fairness, this is very easy for me to say, but god-awful to have to do. I can't imagine being in his shoes on Friday. That was a shitty thing for him to a walk into so soon into his tenure. But if you are going to take on a major leadership role, then it is exactly moments like these that test your true character and your true values. Schill failed that test in my mind. If I were faculty at NU, I would want him to step down.
This summarizes the issue and challenge 100%. No one should lose sight of these words.
Either the school commits to big time football or 7-12mil per year coach and loosening entrance requirements or I cannot see how the next 10 years have 5,000 wildcat fans. 500 students and bottom of the big 10 every year.
All that is fine, but you pay head coach millions a year and they are responsible. They hired every assistant that should have been supervising and advising. It will come out that he knew as those aggrieved begin to file lawsuits. I am sure there are also cellphone videos floating around. What occurred is inexcusable and the entire coaching staff should be fired and those that assaulted players should be charged. There is no place for this in today's society. I don't care how the university first acted on the situation; they finally got it right.
For now but even so how is that relevant? I don’t think FItz is taking any job anytime soon but he will likely have to move if he wants to continue his coaching career down the line.
The substance of the hazing issue might not see the light of day, but the breaking of the agreement with Fitz is a separate and unmissable target, so there will be a big settlement.
I was commenting on Schill's performance in all of this, not the merits of the ultimate decision. I am pretty accepting of the ultimate outcome considering what we have learned. It saddens me and I take no joy in it at all. While I was undecided all winter on whether I wanted Fitz to be fired for football reasons, I surely didn't want it to end because of something like this. It just makes you lose a little faith in humanity to see this happen at a place you love and among people you thought you respected.
The law is the law. At 78, Webb is better than most corporate lawyers in their 30's.
I couldn't agree more. I can understand that if the allegations are legit, then Fitz might've needed to lose his job. What I can't understand is why the AD and president still have their jobs after trying to sweep everything under the rug.
Couple questions for people who know the program and the law...
1. Hasn't Fitz always had a "leadership council" or something like that, where upperclassmen are given significant control over things like discipline and locker room issues?
2. I don't see how you can do an investigation, issue a penalty, then do something much more severe 3 days later. Fitz would have had to done something to violate the conditions of the initial punishment after that punishment was issued, would he not? It can't be more stuff from the past. It has to be new infractions? I suspect that is the basis for his lawuit. But I'm no attorney.
1. Hasn't Fitz always had a "leadership council" or something like that, where upperclassmen are given significant control over things like discipline and locker room issues?
2. I don't see how you can do an investigation, issue a penalty, then do something much more severe 3 days later. Fitz would have had to done something to violate the conditions of the initial punishment after that punishment was issued, would he not? It can't be more stuff from the past. It has to be new infractions? I suspect that is the basis for his lawuit. But I'm no attorney.
Here’s an article about the Leadership Council. I don’t get the sense that discipline would be included in something that fellow players would handle.
Further, if players *were* authorized to discipline fellow players via leadership council, and that discipline took the form of sexual abuse, the coach who entrusted the players and built that structure is still at fault.
You can tell it’s an old article because it’s about a winning streak.
Football: Leadership Council sparks Wildcats’ recent winning streak
Football Following two decisive, mid-season losses to Michigan and Iowa, the Northwestern football players called a team meeting. The meeting — conducted before practice without the coaches’ knowledge — was led by the team’s Leadership Council. “We were saying, ‘let’s not push the panic button...
dailynorthwestern.com
Short article but interesting nonetheless. Thanks for posting the link.Here’s an article about the Leadership Council. I don’t get the sense that discipline would be included in something that fellow players would handle.
Further, if players *were* authorized to discipline fellow players via leadership council, and that discipline took the form of sexual abuse, the coach who entrusted the players and built that structure is still at fault.
You can tell it’s an old article because it’s about a winning streak.
Football: Leadership Council sparks Wildcats’ recent winning streak
Football Following two decisive, mid-season losses to Michigan and Iowa, the Northwestern football players called a team meeting. The meeting — conducted before practice without the coaches’ knowledge — was led by the team’s Leadership Council. “We were saying, ‘let’s not push the panic button...
“(Members) have to be a model of what you would want to be as a player. I can’t say something and not do it,” Gibson said. “(Members make) sure guys are held accountable. There’s a lot that goes into preparing for a game and preparing for a practice that a lot of people don’t understand, and some guys struggle with a consistent effort to be great everyday. You have to be on them, and that’s one of the responsibilities.”
Not that I know much about legal stuff, but my guess would be it ends up about around the amount remaining on the contract. Which I believe was ~$40-45M.
I think that number is closer to $57 million. I also believe that Fitz’s lawyers can argue that the way NU has handled this has irreparably damaged his reputation.
If Fitz actually cared about Northwestern as an Institution, he would demand that that money be reinvested into the program.
/s
Well his son is an incoming freshman on the football team, so he has other stuff to think about.
It brings up an interesting issue - would Fitz have subjected his own son to the rituals and disciplinary practices (hazing) that seem like they were part of the program? I think any honest person would say "of course."
And I'm sure he also loves his son.
Okay psu guy who has been called pedophile for just being a Penn state fan we have seen reported abuse of some sort or another all through the league of some sort or another can we just agree that humans have the capacity to be very bad and not condemn everyone I am certain that your coach did not condone this. These guys are so freaking busy on so many levels they can’t possibly know what everyone is doing at any one moment I feel bad for Fitzgerald and your program to be honest we were Penn State and still survived because we were Penn state. This is terrible for northwestern. You are heads and shoulders above psu as an university but not in football good luck guys
