Fitzgerald Stays at Northwestern

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jan 7, 2011 6:40PM

Since becoming the youngest head coach in NCAA football when he took over Northwestern following Randy Walker's death in 2006, Pat Fitzgerald has helped turn the Wildcats into a legitimate Big Ten team. With three straight bowl appearances, Fitzgerald's name has surfaced in connection with a number of high profile coaching vacancies. Most recently, it's the University of Michigan who inquired about his interest in moving up. With Rich Rodriguez fired following three sub-par years in Ann Arbor, Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon apparently tried to reach out to Fitzgerald but the request to talk was declined.

While Fitzgerald has spurned overtures from Michigan and Notre Dame the past two seasons, can Wildcat fans breathe a sigh of relief that he plans to stay for the long term? His empathic stance that he was never leaving NU seems to have softened of late, but that still doesn't mean he's got one foot out the door. Fitzgerald is a Northwestern alum who starred on the 1996 Rose Bowl team, and a Chicago-area native. His wife is also an area native and NU grad.

Given his past achievements on the field and on the sidelines, Fitzgerald could already have earned himself "coach for life" status for the Wildcats. Why give that up for a pressure cooker of a position in a place like South Bend or Ann Arbor? Three years seems to be the time frame for building a national title contender before getting the boot. Bigger pay days might be available elsewhere, but Northwestern and some of its wealthy alums seem open to opening their wallets to keep Fitz in Evanston. We foresee him staying with the Wildcats for a good, long time. Of course, there was also a time that we believed that about his old coach Gary Barnett.