Northwestern football: Timeline of situation with Pat Fitzgerald

What a whirlwind the past couple of weeks has been for Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern football community.

In what seemed to be just a minor violation found after an internal investigation regarding some hazing accusations, Fitzgerald was suspended for a couple of weeks before more reports came out about worse and worse rumors.

Fitzgerald’s suspension then became questionable. Was it enough to suspend a coach without pay in the middle of a dead period in July? Probably not.

But things escalated quickly and he was fired from Northwestern on Monday, July 10.

This ignited heated debates about whether or not it was fair and some national media members like Danny Kanell came out in defense of the newly-fired head coach.

Let’s take a look at the wild timeline of events from the controversy.

Timeline of events from Northwestern football’s firing of Fitzgerald

July 7: It all started with an internal investigation which found that hazing had run rampant within Fitzgerald’s Northwestern program.

July 8: Details emerged about the extent of the hazing, stating that it was sexual in nature. Things went from head-scratching to ugly in a hurry. The hazing included rituals called “running” and the “Shrek’s list” which was on a whiteboard in the middle of the locker room for all to see.

July 9: A school publication looked into the allegations and found multiple other players alleging the sexual misconduct was legitimate. It felt like Fitzgerald was coaching on borrowed time.

July 10: Pat Fitzgerald was officially fired by the school and he lawyered up immediately. He said that he didn’t know anything was going on in terms of hazing, which is just as bad as knowing. The head coach is supposed to know everything about his program.

July 11: A former Northwestern quarterback is rumored to be the “whistleblower” in the Fitzgerald situation. Seemingly reckless to share the alleged identity of the whistleblower before the situation is fully resolved.

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It seems like something new is coming out every day, so stay tuned to the next chapter in this controversial tale.