![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/northwestern-fires-college-football-coach-amid-toxic-culture-and-hazing-allegations/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/0_pat-fitzgerald-northwestern.jpg&description=Northwestern have dismissed college football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid allegations players in his team routinely engaged in hazing rituals Northwestern have fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday night, according to multiple reports, amid claims his team fostered an abusive culture that included hazing rituals. Fitzgerald had been on a two-week unpaid suspension, but the school opted to completely end its relationship with the 48-year-old. ESPN was the first to report the news. The coach was elevated to the top position in the football programme in 2006 after serving on the staff as a defensive assistant. Northwestern began an investigation into the football team in January. A report found evidence of a toxic culture, though it did not indicate that Fitzgerald knew what went on. "The investigation did not uncover evidence pointing to specific misconduct by any individual football player or coach, participation in or knowledge of the hazing activities was widespread across football players," Northwestern said in announcing the suspension. "Hazing in any form is unacceptable and goes against our core values at Northwestern, where we strive to make the University a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students," university president Michael Schill said in a statement. "Our athletics programs are held to the highest standards, and in this case, we failed to meet them. I expect that today's actions will prevent this from ever happening again." In the days after Fitzgerald's suspension was announced, the university's independent student newspaper quoted two players who detailed numerous alleged instances of hazing, including incidents where student-athletes would allegedly group together in a dark locker room and "hump" younger team-mates. In addition to suspending Fitzgerald, Northwestern on Friday banned off-campus practices in Kenosha, Wis., and assigned an individual who doesn't report to Fitzgerald to monitor the team's locker room going forward.){kind=link}
Northwestern have dismissed college football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid allegations players in his team routinely engaged in hazing rituals
Northwestern fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday night amid claims his team fostered an abusive culture that included hazing rituals. A new statement from university president Michael Schill revealed further details about the situation.
Fitzgerald had been on a two-week unpaid suspension, but the school has now opted to completely end its relationship with the 48-year-old after reconsidering its stance and learning new details beyond the results of an investigation that began in January.
“The decision comes after a difficult and complex evaluation of my original discipline decision imposed last week on Coach Fitzgerald for his failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program,” wrote Schill in an open letter to the Northwestern community.
Schill listed several points that led to his decision to axe Fitzgerald, including that “during the investigation, 11 current or former football student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing within the football program. In new media reporting today, still more former Northwestern football student-athletes confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years. This has never been about one former student-athlete and his motives; this is much bigger than that.”