(670 The Score) Pat Fitzgerald was fired as head coach of Northwestern’s football program on Monday in the wake of an investigation confirming allegations of hazing by his players.
Fitzgerald has hired a legal team to contest his firing for cause, which came despite Northwestern’s acknowledgement within the investigation that he was unaware of the hazing incidents. The circumstances of Fitzgerald’s dismissal have left former players frustrated and disappointed with the university.
Former Northwestern star Corey Wootton, a five-year NFL defensive lineman, said he does not believe that Fitzgerald – his former head coach – could have been aware of the hazing within this program.
“Knowing Pat Fitzgerald and the person he is, there’s no way that he knew what the allegations if they were happening,” Wootton said Thursday morning on the Mully & Haugh Show. There’s no way that he knew that and accepted it. I know the type of person that he is.
“It’s tough. I don’t think a coach can know everything about over 100 guys. We had I think over 105 guys when I played. You think every coach knows everything that’s going on about their players if nobody is saying anything?
“That’s tough to put that on the coach, that he’s responsible for everything."
Fitzgerald was initially suspended by Northwestern last Friday for two weeks without pay. However, a story by the student-run Daily Northwestern revealed details of the allegations by the former player, who became a whistleblower in this scandal. The details of this former player were corroborated by those within the program.
A decorated former player at Northwestern, Fitzgerald was head coach of the program for 17 years.
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