Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald reach settlement in lawsuit

Northwestern has reached a settlement with former football coach Pat Fitzgerald nearly two years after he sued the university for $130 million following his firing amid a team hazing scandal.

Fitzgerald announced the settlement Thursday through a statement via his attorneys, saying he had resolved his claims of breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress with the university to his satisfaction. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

“Though I maintain Northwestern had no legal basis to terminate my employment for cause under the terms of my employment agreement, in the interest of resolving this matter and, in particular, to relieve my family from the stress of ongoing litigation, Northwestern and I have agreed to a settlement,” Fitzgerald said.

Northwestern fired Fitzgerald on July 10, 2023, saying at the time that 11 current or former football players had acknowledged hazing that included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.”

The university originally suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay after its investigation. But Northwestern President Michael Schill said in an open letter three days later that the coach was responsible for the team’s culture and should have known the hazing occurred.

Three months later, Fitzgerald filed suit, saying the university engaged in “callous and outrageous misconduct in destroying his career.”

In Fitzgerald’s statement Thursday, he said that during two years of discovery, he found that there was hazing within the program but that he had no knowledge of it and did not direct or encourage it in any way.

“I am 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 said in the statement.

In a statement, Northwestern backed Fitzgerald’s stance that he didn’t direct or condone hazing.

“While the litigation brought to light highly inappropriate conduct in the football program and the harm it caused, the evidence uncovered during extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing,” the university said. “Moreover, when presented with the details of the conduct, he was incredibly upset and saddened by the negative impact this conduct had on players within the program.”

Northwestern said in its statement that it has taken steps to ensure hazing doesn’t happen again within its athletic programs, including implementing new training and protocols for reporting and feedback.

The university said it wishes Fitzgerald “the best in resuming his football career.”

Fitzgerald was the Wildcats coach for 17 seasons, going 110-101 with two Big Ten West titles and 10 bowl appearances. He was a Northwestern assistant coach for five seasons before he was hired for the head coaching job in 2006 after Randy Walker’s death.

Northwestern named then-defensive coordinator David Braun the interim coach in July 2023 and promoted him to head coach in November of that year. He begins his third season as the Wildcats coach Aug. 30 at Tulane.

In April, Northwestern settled lawsuits with former players who alleged sexual abuse and racial discrimination during Fitzgerald’s tenure.

Fitzgerald’s case had been set to go to trial in November.

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