Pat Fitzgerald describes his best fit to get back into coaching

Former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald was a Wildcat through and through before he was fired in July 2023. Fitzgerald, who played for the program from 1993-96 and coached the program from 2006-2022, was let go after an investigation concluded that he was aware of hazing incidents that took place around the program.

His firing actually came after he had agreed to serve a two-week offseason suspension, at which point the coach hired outside legal counsel. Following his firing, Fitzgerald sued the school for $130 million. Northwestern reportedly settled the lawsuit last month.

In the three months since the lawsuit was settled, Fitzgerald has returned to the national spotlight as he looks to begin coaching at the FBS level once again. He joined ESPN‘s Rece Davis on this week’s edition of the ‘College GameDay Podcast,’ where he revealed his best fit to get back into coaching.

“I think my fit is at a school that has a lot of linemen,” Fitzgerald said. “I say that because with Jim Phillips, who is now the Commissioner of the ACC, we had alignment moving out of the athletic department through our board up through the presidents office. We were competing and winning championships. We were rolling. As some things change, it changes.”

“For me, that’s what I’m trying to evaluate on my end. I want to be in a fox-hole together with an AD where we are doing this as partner’s together.”

Greg McElroy tabbed Fitzgerald as candidate for Penn State job

Over his 17 seasons in charge, Fitzgerald led Northwestern to a 110-101 (65-76) record with a 5-5 bowl record. This included a 35-19 win over Auburn in the 2021 Citrus Bowl, capping off a 7-2 COVID-shortened season in 2020 in which the Wildcats finished ranked No. 10 in the final AP Poll.

ESPN’s Greg McElroy revealed last month that he believes that Fitzgerald is a name to watch in the Penn State coaching search. Fitzgerald did ‘more with less’, and McElroy noted this could be an interesting partnership with Penn State.

“Just throwing it out there. Remember the name Pat Fitzgerald, just saying,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Remember the name. With what transpired, and he got paid, actually, by Northwestern because of how that all went down. He’s available, has Big Ten experience, has done more with less for a very long time, which is the exact opposite of what James Franklin did.

“He did less with more. So we’ll see what happens. But that’s a name, by the way. Little nugget. Keep it in (mind).”

If Fitzgerald is hired somewhere this coaching cycle, it will mark the first year since 2000 (Idaho LB’s coach) that he isn’t coaching at Northwestern in some capacity.