Numb

[NUCat320]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

 

[Medill '03]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

I like the sentiment, but this is like a bad divorce. I have no doubt Gragg and Schill will also lose their jobs. But the damage overall is done. An entirely new group will have to emerge and rebuild from the bottom. What a waste.

 

[NUChicago]

I like the sentiment, but this is like a bad divorce. I have no doubt Gragg and Schill will also lose their jobs. But the damage overall is done. An entirely new group will have to emerge and rebuild from the bottom. What a waste.

I agree that this is a complete rebuild. My real concern is Gragg and Schill stay in their positions and I have ZERO faith they can hire the right folks to do this massive task. My god, look at the baseball bomb that dropped yesterday.

 

[zeek55]

I agree that this is a complete rebuild. My real concern is Gragg and Schill stay in their positions and I have ZERO faith they can hire the right folks to do this massive task. My god, look at the baseball bomb that dropped yesterday.

Schill blew the initial punishment, but as the president he's far enough removed from all of this that I don't think he should be fired.

Gragg though... has been a walking mess and handled this all about as poorly as possible.

The baseball situation is a huge strike against Gragg; that 2 of these situations are happening under his watch and he's literally nowhere to be seen is making everything much worse.

 

[NUChicago]

Schill blew the initial punishment, but as the president he's far enough removed from all of this that I don't think he should be fired.

Gragg though... has been a walking mess and handled this all about as poorly as possible.

The baseball situation is a huge strike against Gragg; that 2 of these situations are happening under his watch and he's literally nowhere to be seen is making everything much worse.

I have no idea if this is true but on a thread on InsideNU someone said he is on an overseas vacation. Methinks with the serious nature of the situations he would be called back. It's part of the job at that level.

 

[zeek55]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

Fitz's statement is written by a lawyer. It is what it is.

Fitz *has* to claim that he's clean in a legal sense so that he can claim that he's being fired unjustly and without cause. His legal team will get him a big settlement this way.


But yes, in a non-legal sense, Fitz blew it. Everything in the world going for him and he let this happen in a way that should have been discoverable and stopped well before it snowballed to this point where double digit numbers of players are claiming this happened.

As for the Fitz statue stuff, that's gone forever. Never going to happen. This is a huge black mark on him and the football program and it will take time to recede.

I was all in favor of renaming the field after Fitz eventually and building a statue, but that would have been after a 30+ year career as HC where he retires after serving the University the vast part of his life and is an ambassador for NU long into the future. But that just isn't going to happen now and I think fans will give him some level of responsibility for leaving the program in a new Dark Age.

 

[phatcat]

Fitz's statement is written by a lawyer. It is what it is.

Fitz *has* to claim that he's clean in a legal sense so that he can claim that he's being fired unjustly and without cause. His legal team will get him a big settlement this way.


But yes, in a non-legal sense, Fitz blew it. Everything in the world going for him and he let this happen in a way that should have been discoverable and stopped well before it snowballed to this point where double digit numbers of players are claiming this happened.

As for the Fitz statue stuff, that's gone forever. Never going to happen. This is a huge black mark on him and the football program and it will take time to recede.

I was all in favor of renaming the field after Fitz eventually and building a statue, but that would have been after a 30+ year career as HC where he retires after serving the University the vast part of his life and is an ambassador for NU long into the future. But that just isn't going to happen now and I think fans will give him some level of responsibility for leaving the program in a new Dark Age.

Statue of Fitz? More like Statue of Limitations. (He has taken that title from Hilinski).

I am already looking ahead. We (NU Athletics) found out we had cancer. We had surgery. Now the rehab and the chemo. We may not survive, but we assuredly would have died had we not had we not found out or had ignored it.

 

[GatoLouco]

In my mind there's like less than 1% chance he did not know there was hazing. Only a really clueless buffoon would not know after being 17 years at the helm.

There are many scenarios where "knowing" falls. It does not mean he is Dr. Evil, just going along with butt naked young men sliding across the showers' floor:

1) Decent chance no player ever came to him - any whistle blower has to deal with the association of being a snitch, potential blowbacks, if involved directly the shame of not being able to just rub some dirt on it, etc.
2) Little chance no staff ever mentioned it. Literally close to no chance. Maybe no clear idea how serious it was, maybe mentions were light hearted as in they're shaving heads but not forcing a young man to expose his butt hole while simulating a snap while naked
3) Good chance this is all treated by the coach as "boys will be boys". No big deal. "I don't want to hear about it". No attempt to eliminate it, no reporting it up the chain

I am convinced Fitz is a terrific guy who has had an incredibly positive effect in the lives of hundreds. But good people also fail miserably in some instances. And some failures are just very serious.

Folks can mention the several players who have praised the man. But if any of you had an 18 yo who was forced to be dry humped by 10 dudes in jigsaw masks, you'd be enraged. You'd worry about the long term effects of that shit and you'd want it to stop.

I'm just sorry the prez decided to try to sneak this past public opinion with a slap on the wrist. I feel had he come down hard with like a 3 to 6 month suspension in the first place, we'd not be here. And that might have been the appropriate outcome. We f'ed up, we are sorry, we are going the straighten this out.

 

[kreggk]

Schill blew the initial punishment, but as the president he's far enough removed from all of this that I don't think he should be fired.

Gragg though... has been a walking mess and handled this all about as poorly as possible.

The baseball situation is a huge strike against Gragg; that 2 of these situations are happening under his watch and he's literally nowhere to be seen is making everything much worse.

zeek - I agree with this in its entirety. Turns out leadership is pretty important. I'm waxing nostalgic for the days when Fitz was on the rise and we still had Dr. Phillips and Morty at the helm. This will take a decade to recover from.

 

[NJCat]

zeek - I agree with this in its entirety. Turns out leadership is pretty important. I'm waxing nostalgic for the days when Fitz was on the rise and we still had Dr. Phillips and Morty at the helm. This will take a decade to recover from.

You realize most of the hazing occurred when Phillips and Morty were at the helm.....

 

[jimmyNU]

I am struggling to understand Fitz today. I don't know him personally and thus really hesitate to call him a liar. That said, like nearly everyone else, I find it impossible to believe he didn't know.

I have learned from life experience that humans have an unbelievable ability to deny reality. We rationalize, justify, and remember in ways that preserve our preferences and interests. I am hoping that right now, Fitz is in denial about what he knew. Maybe one day, he will explain.

 

[kreggk]

You realize most of the hazing occurred when Phillips and Morty were at the helm.....

You have a point. Makes one ponder how they'd have handled it.

 

[T_Levine]

You have a point. Makes one ponder how they'd have handled it.

Someone who knows Morty well said

“Fitz is gone because Morty isn’t there any more. Morty loved Fitz.”

 

[curdog]

Schill blew the initial punishment, but as the president he's far enough removed from all of this that I don't think he should be fired.

Gragg though... has been a walking mess and handled this all about as poorly as possible.

The baseball situation is a huge strike against Gragg; that 2 of these situations are happening under his watch and he's literally nowhere to be seen is making everything much worse.

This is a ridiculous notion. If the buck stops with fist with regard to the football program, the buck stops with Schill with regard to the university writ large. If the law firm report matched what was in the daily article, and schill’s response was “2 weeks and we are good”, he should be fired. If he didn’t read the report and only heard about the gory details over the weekend, he should be fired.

I can’t imagine anyone on campus has any confidence in his leadership. I know I don’t.

 

[Sheffielder]

I am struggling to understand Fitz today. I don't know him personally and thus really hesitate to call him a liar. That said, like nearly everyone else, I find it impossible to believe he didn't know.

I have learned from life experience that humans have an unbelievable ability to deny reality. We rationalize, justify, and remember in ways that preserve our preferences and interests. I am hoping that right now, Fitz is in denial about what he knew. Maybe one day, he will explain.

Under the bright lights and with legal implications on the horizon he has no choice but to vehemently deny. In trusted company I suspect he would admit he should have been paying more attention, and maybe the boys went too far, but he can't give an inch like that right now.

 

[curdog]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

I never say never, but there will never be a statue of Fitz on campus.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Under the bright lights and with legal implications on the horizon he has no choice but to vehemently deny. In trusted company I suspect he would admit he should have been paying more attention, and maybe the boys went too far, but he can't give an inch like that right now.

There was a path where Fitz would've agreed to, say, a half-season suspension, vocalized more responsibility, and promised to make and accept institutional changes to ensure that no hazing could ever happen again.

But the president has turtled into CYA mode and likely breached Fitz's contract and ensured that Fitz must respond with lawfare to protect himself and his reputation.

 

[zeek55]

This is a ridiculous notion. If the buck stops with fist with regard to the football program, the buck stops with Schill with regard to the university writ large. If the law firm report matched what was in the daily article, and schill’s response was “2 weeks and we are good”, he should be fired. If he didn’t read the report and only heard about the gory details over the weekend, he should be fired.

I can’t imagine anyone on campus has any confidence in his leadership. I know I don’t.

That's entirely fair.

Just not realistic to expect a quick exodus of all 3: football coach, AD, and president in quick succession.

That's 3 of the most prominent positions at the university to turn over so quickly. Though I have 0 confidence in Gragg to handle the next football hire and same in Schill to hire an AD.

So cleaning everyone out isn't a bad idea. We'll have to do it at some point; I just think the stadium project needs to get to the shovels in ground stage before we do that (it's more important in my mind than whether Gragg or Schill stays on to see it through).

 

[Hungry Jack]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

I've alluded to this in my Clint Eastwood movie lessons before, but all humans are very flawed. Even great leaders make terrible mistakes where people can be hurt. It is at the core of human nature.

I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for Fitz. He brought so much joy to the NU community, and so many student athletes. Of course, he is responsible for his football program, and I think his firing was just.

But for any who might think Fitz is a monster or a failure as a human, my only counsel is that perfection does not exist in humans. Perhaps this is why most cultures have a god or gods--representations of the perfect human. But no amount of moralizing, faith, values-based education, training, indoctrination, legislation, regulation, coercion, or threat of punishment will ever diminish the fact that we are all human. We can do great things. We can make terrible mistakes. In the end, we can only go on.

 

[FeralFelidae]

I've alluded to my Clint Eastwood movie lessons before, but all humans are very flawed. Even great leaders make terrible mistakes where people can be hurt. It is at the core of human nature.

I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for Fitz. He brought so much joy to the NU community, and so many student athletes. Of course, he is responsible for his football program, and I think his firing was just.

But for any who might think Fitz is a monster or a failure as a human, my only counsel is that perfection does not exist in humans. Perhaps this is why most cultures have a god or gods--representations of the perfect human. But no amount of moralizing, faith, values-based education, training, indoctrination, legislation, regulation, coercion, or threat of punishment will ever diminish the fact that we are all human. We can do great things. We can make terrible mistakes. In the end, we can only go on.

Religions usually have concepts of forgiveness and penance. We live in a climate where trial by social media does not allow for either for transgressions against the thing of the current moment.

 

[Sheffielder]

There was a path where Fitz would've agreed to, say, a half-season suspension, vocalized more responsibility, and promised to make and accept institutional changes to ensure that no hazing could ever happen again.

But the president has turtled into CYA mode and likely breached Fitz's contract and ensured that Fitz must respond with lawfare to protect himself and his reputation.

Totally agree with you. I really can easily imagine a scenario where he goes public and does it in a big way - I let this get away from me, things that happened shouldn't and if it can happen here it can happen anywhere, I'm responsible for this, etc. This scenario could have literally led to people suggesting LIGHTER sanctions.

In fairness to Schill, though, this wasn't where Fitz's head was at any point. He was fine with the light slap on the wrist and watching this go away, and maybe shooting a dirty look or two at the locker room monitor.

 

[NUCat320]

Right. We’ve seen a lot of hubris and defensiveness from Fitz over the past few seasons. I think he just wasn’t willing to accept a larger punishment. I could see Gragg suggesting a six-month suspension, and Fitz simply refusing.

If Fitz had owned it. If it were truly on him, he’d have missed a few games or maybe even the entire season. He’d be tarnished but still sterling silver. Oh well.

 

[jimmyNU]

Right. We’ve seen a lot of hubris and defensiveness from Fitz over the past few seasons. I think he just wasn’t willing to accept a larger punishment. I could see Gragg suggesting a six-month suspension, and Fitz simply refusing.

If Fitz had owned it. If it were truly on him, he’d have missed a few games or maybe even the entire season. He’d be tarnished but still sterling silver. Oh well.

Could he really have refused a longer suspension? Wouldn't that be insubordination and likely a breech of his contract?

 

[TheC]

I never say never, but there will never be a statue of Fitz on campus.

So... there will be a statue?

 

[StreamCat]

Could he really have refused a longer suspension? Wouldn't that be insubordination and likely a breech of his contract?

That’s too bad. His statue would cut a fine figure with all those other statues. Let’s see; there’s the Wildcat statue and, hmmmm. Am I missing any?

 

[TheC]

I really can easily imagine a scenario where he goes public and does it in a big way - I let this get away from me, things that happened shouldn't and if it can happen here it can happen anywhere, I'm responsible for this, etc. This scenario could have literally led to people suggesting LIGHTER sanctions.

I generally think/thought Fitz is a good guy. But one thing about him is he could seem arrogant at times and highly resistant to admitting mistakes. I just don't see him responding like this. He may mouth platitudes about how it starts and ends with me, but did anyone ever really believe that when he said it? I just don't see that kind of mea culpa being in Fitz' nature.

 

[Sheffielder]

I generally think/thought Fitz is a good guy. But one thing about him is he could seem arrogant at times and highly resistant to admitting mistakes. I just don't see him responding like this. He may mouth platitudes about how it starts and ends with me, but did anyone ever really believe that when he said it? I just don't see that kind of mea culpa being in Fitz' nature.

I think he understands the politics of a bad situation. If he knew his job and reputation were on the line, because the *national* media and entire CFB community were watching him (not just a couple of reporters from Trib and the Daily, and some of our fans), he'd go into survival mode.

But...we'll never know.

 

[ABLCommenter]

This is just so weird.

I hate hate hate reading Fitz’s statement, both on Friday and now today, that he ‘had no knowledge’ of any hazing. Whether he’s lying or not, his job is to have that knowledge.

He was not a strategy guy. He did not construct the game plan. His job was culture. His job was treating those players — even a certain noodle-armed QB — like his own sons. All of them.

A preponderance of the evidence — both the statements in the executive summary, and the subsequent reporting — demonstrates that Fitz should have known what was going on.

NU is not the only place where this happens, and it is probably far worse at other schools. But that is not the point.

The reason Pat Fitzgerald can lose 20 of 21 games and make only moderate staff changes is precisely because NU is different. NU graduates its players. NU scores them corporate connections and quality internships. And NU helps them develop into men, men who treat everyone from the AD to the freshman equipment manager to the sideline reporter with the same degree of respect.

And that final part, about respect for everyone (except journalists) — maybe Fitz didn’t live that lesson to the degree that we’ve thought he had, and certainly he did not teach the importance of such an approach in his players.

Ultimately, I really, really hope that this ending doesn’t mark a complete severing of Pat Fitzgerald’s relationship with NU. The legal stuff will be ugly, and I hope and fully expect that it ends without dirty details being revealed.

I really, really hope that, 5 or 10 or 15 years from now, Fitz gets that statue that we’ve always expected him to get. Give this failure of leadership the placement it deserve — a single sentence that only moderately detracts from a quarter-century as the greatest Wildcat of the modern era.

Shoot, maybe he’ll resume that relationship with NU as soon as Gragg and Schill are deservedly shown the door.

Paddy Fitz is human, as it turns out.
Go Cats.

The paragraph beginning with "[t]he reason Pat Fitzgerald . . ." is precisely the problem. I am sorry, but who cares about securing internships in the corporate world? This is collegiate athletics. Your goal is to win. The fact that Fitz could win one game and not even be on the hot seat pre-allegations is why this program needs a complete facelift. Recruit better players. I care about the scoreboard, not about which ex-player is working at JPMorgan. If that makes me shallow, so be it.