Pat Fitzgerald was fired by Northwestern two years ago following allegations of hazing, but the school has now admitted that its former head football coach had no prior knowledge of the behavior.
Fitzgerald was initially suspended for two weeks by Northwestern in July 2023 after a story detailed allegations of hazing within the Wildcats football program. Northwestern then changed course and fired Fitzgerald despite questions about whether he or members of his former coaching staff were aware of the hazing.
Roughly three months later, Fitzgerald filed a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit against Northwestern. The figure included the $68 million that Fitzgerald was owed from Northwestern plus $62 million in future lost income.
On Thursday, Northwestern and Fitzgerald announced that the lawsuit has been settled. While the terms were not disclosed, Northwestern said in a statement that its investigation “did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing.”
“Moreover, when presented with the details of the conduct, he was incredibly upset and saddened by the negative impact this conduct had on players with the program,” the statement read. “Northwestern appreciates Coach Fitzgerald’s 26 years as a Northwestern player and coach. Northwestern is proud of Coach Fitzgerald’s teams’ success on the field as well as it (sic) success in the classroom. Northwestern football had the highest graduation rate of any Division 1 college football program from 2016-2022.
“Northwestern wishes Coach Fitzgerald the best in resuming his football career.”
Northwestern statement on the settlement with former coach Pat Fitzgerald, notes that the evidence established no player reported hazing to Fitzgerald, nor did he condone or direct any hazing. pic.twitter.com/InH9ZBmcxc
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 21, 2025
Fitzgerald also issued a lengthy statement. The former coach said he learned of the hazing after the fact and was “extremely disappointed that members of the team engaged in this behavior and that no one reported it to me, so that I could have alerted Northwestern’s Athletic Department and administrators, stopped the inappropriate behavior, and taken every necessary step to protect Northwestern’s student athletes.”
Fitzgerald also said the “rush to judgment in the media” caused “great stress, embarrassment, and reputational harm” to him, his wife and three sons.
Statement from Pat Fitzgerald on the settlement with Northwestern: pic.twitter.com/VNfEYwPUDx
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 21, 2025
Several of Fitzgerald’s former players, as well as former staff members, came to his defense and rallied around him after he was fired. One player who was with Northwestern at the time even said that the whistleblower was out to personally get Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, 50, starred at Northwestern as a linebacker from 1993-1996 and then returned to the program as a position coach in 2001. He became their head coach in 2006 and went 110-101, including five bowl game wins. Fitzgerald led the program to two Big Ten West titles.
Fitzgerald has since taken a job as a much lower level of football, but it would not be surprising to see him back with a Division 1 program in the near future.
