Northwestern Football Hazing/Pat Fitzgerald Let Go

dublinirish

dublinirish

Everestt Gholstonson
Messages
27,335
Reaction score
13,096
the fact that all these dudes should have been shitcanned with Fitz and then they go and act out like.....its pretty brazen
 
Pops Freshenmeyer

Pops Freshenmeyer

Well-known member
Messages
5,112
Reaction score
2,457
Blazers46 said:
He should. They left the whole staff besides him. If he can prove others knew as much as he did, however much that is, he will win.
Click to expand...
This isn't true at all. Northwestern's internal investigation didn't even conclude that Fitzgerald knew about it.
"The (ArentFox Schiff) investigation team did not discover sufficient evidence to believe that coaching staff knew about the ongoing hazing conduct," the executive summary states. "They determined, however, that there had been significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing conduct."
Click to expand...

The report has not been made public so we don't really know what the "significant opportunities" actually means.
 
Blazers46

Blazers46

Adjectives: wise/brilliant/handsome.
Messages
8,110
Reaction score
5,463
Pops Freshenmeyer said:
This isn't true at all. Northwestern's internal investigation didn't even conclude that Fitzgerald knew about it.
Click to expand...
so it’s probably safe to assume that the other staff knew just as much as Fitzgerald, if not more. I am just saying there was probably just as much, if not more cause to fire everyone else then to just fire, Pat Fitzgerald. You can’t just fire one person if everyone technically has blood on their hands.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

Minister of Delayed Gratification
Messages
13,489
Reaction score
14,230
Pops Freshenmeyer said:
Releasing it would open them up to additional claims from Fitzgerald. His legal reps will get the report and it will effectively be their Bchoice what part(s) get made public.
Click to expand...

Being a private university, they don't have to release it to the public if they choose not to. Based on how all of this has transpired, it won't see the light of day unless it gets leaked.

I'm sure no coaches saw the whiteboard right in the middle of the locker room that was keeping a tally and paid zero attention to what it might mean if they did see it.
 
Pops Freshenmeyer

Pops Freshenmeyer

Well-known member
Messages
5,112
Reaction score
2,457
Jiggafini19Deux said:
Being a private university, they don't have to release it to the public if they choose not to. Based on how all of this has transpired, it won't see the light of day unless it gets leaked.

I'm sure no coaches saw the whiteboard right in the middle of the locker room that was keeping a tally and paid zero attention to what it might mean if they did see it.
Click to expand...
Google sez there are currently 13 lawsuits against Northwestern, and 6 which include Fitzgerald as a party Defendant. We will probably see more coming to light through these than we would from the report.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

Minister of Delayed Gratification
Messages
13,489
Reaction score
14,230
Pops Freshenmeyer said:
Google sez there are currently 13 lawsuits against Northwestern, and 6 which include Fitzgerald as a party Defendant. We will probably see more coming to light through these than we would from the report.
Click to expand...

I think they have to settle with Fitzgerald. If he should have known, so did a lot of other staff members there. A.D., University president, etc.

Settle and make it go away.
 
Pops Freshenmeyer

Pops Freshenmeyer

Well-known member
Messages
5,112
Reaction score
2,457
Jiggafini19Deux said:
I think they have to settle with Fitzgerald. If he should have known, so did a lot of other staff members there. A.D., University president, etc.

Settle and make it go away.
Click to expand...
I think the football coach has particular authority and responsibility to create a safe environment for the players under his charge. And in a way that is different from other staff members or his university superiors.

Of course, any staff members actually aware of it should be terminated if they did nothing.

I don't think it's necessarily wrong or crazy that the head coach be the party who is ultimately responsible. But that all depends on the facts.
 
Katzenboyer

Katzenboyer

Well-known member
Messages
1,925
Reaction score
3,186
Jiggafini19Deux said:
I think they have to settle with Fitzgerald. If he should have known, so did a lot of other staff members there. A.D., University president, etc.

Settle and make it go away.
Click to expand...

This is apples to oranges (I'm an attorney that does quite a bit of employment work).

It simply doesn't matter if others knew, too. If Fitzgerald knew, or should have known, he's done. That's good cause to terminate his contract and would bar any claim that it was breached.

And from where I'm sitting, he doesn't have much of a defense. He can't blame another staff or previous regime for bad practices because he was there for 17 years. It seems as if many of the student/athletes can tie him directly to the hazing rituals/practices. If he thinks he's going to somehow tie this to the President and AD...good luck with that.

Seems like a pure leverage play to try and get some of his buyout money back. Al Golden tried something similar with Miami (and he was only fired for poor performance, and nothing approaching the level of ugliness Fitzgerald is accused of) and the case got tossed.

Fitzgerald's best case scenario is that this settles (and it still could), but if he thinks he's getting anywhere close to what he was owed on his contract, he needs to hire new attorneys.
 
Irishdrunk

Irishdrunk

Not Banned Yet
Messages
2,861
Reaction score
807
Katzenboyer said:
This is apples to oranges (I'm an attorney that does quite a bit of employment work).

It simply doesn't matter if others knew, too. If Fitzgerald knew, or should have known, he's done. That's good cause to terminate his contract and would bar any claim that it was breached.

And from where I'm sitting, he doesn't have much of a defense. He can't blame another staff or previous regime for bad practices because he was there for 17 years. It seems as if many of the student/athletes can tie him directly to the hazing rituals/practices. If he thinks he's going to somehow tie this to the President and AD...good luck with that.

Seems like a pure leverage play to try and get some of his buyout money back. Al Golden tried something similar with Miami (and he was only fired for poor performance, and nothing approaching the level of ugliness Fitzgerald is accused of) and the case got tossed.

Fitzgerald's best case scenario is that this settles (and it still could), but if he thinks he's getting anywhere close to what he was owed on his contract, he needs to hire new attorneys.
Click to expand...
You do realize he has Dan Webb as his attorney, right???

Webb won’t take a simple leverage case or a case where he doesn’t have great cards in his hand. Think again.
 
stlnd01

stlnd01

Was away. Now returned.
Messages
13,388
Reaction score
10,249
Irishdrunk said:
You do realize he has Dan Webb as his attorney, right???

Webb won’t take a simple leverage case or a case where he doesn’t have great cards in his hand. Think again.
Click to expand...
Ooh. Checkmate.

I dunno. I don’t know how the head of a football program isn’t responsible for what happens in that program. To argue he didn’t know this was going on is laughable. To argue it’s OK is even worse. Maybe he can drag others - above him or below him - down too. But whats the point of that if not leverage?
 
zelezo vlk

zelezo vlk

Well-known member
Messages
18,013
Reaction score
5,055
Jiggafini19Deux said:
www.nytimes.com

Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern reach settlement in wrongful termination lawsuit

Northwestern fired Fitzgerald in 2023 amid hazing allegations in the football program. He's maintained that he was unaware of the incidents.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

He's going to be back. Just a matter of when and where.

Does him taking over Iowa when Ferentz steps down seem totally off?
Click to expand...
Iowa I thought already had their coach in waiting. Otherwise that would be a good fit. Shoot are we sure Sconny wouldn't take him after moving on from Fickell?
 
Irish4life

Irish4life

Well-known member
Messages
2,887
Reaction score
3,674
zelezo vlk said:
Iowa I thought already had their coach in waiting. Otherwise that would be a good fit. Shoot are we sure Sconny wouldn't take him after moving on from Fickell?
Click to expand...
That's a really good call wow. ...Could we have Marcus Freeman vs Pat Fitzgerald in Lambeau next season...?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top