Northwestern releases statement after settling $130 million lawsuit with Pat Fitzgerald

Per a statement from the Wildcats posted on X by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, no discovery was found that Fitzgerald directed or condoned hazing. The school “appreciates” Fitzgerald’s contributions on the gridiron.

“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 school wrote. “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 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 success in the classroom. Northwestern football had the highest graduation rate of any Division 1 football program from 2016-2022.”

The program wished Fitzgerald the best in resuming his football career.

Pat Fitzgerald was a highly successful coach on the field

The Wildcats went 110-101 during Fitzgerald’s 17 seasons, and earned four of the program’s five 10-win seasons. He went 5-5 in bowl games. Since he was fired, Fitzgerald has been a volunteer assistant for Loyola Academy in Illinois..

The program stated that the health and safety of the community was its number one goal, and are taking steps to make sure hazing does not happen again.

“The University has taken action to ensure hazing will not occur again, including new training and additional steps for feedback and reporting,” per the statement.