A friend of mine after last season asked me over text if Pat Fitzgerald was going to get fired after a dismal 1-11 season? I replied that was a good question, Northwestern's performance on the field the last 2 seasons have been terrible but he is a Northwestern Football legend and there aren't too many it that category. Once they announced the plans for the new stadium, I was certain he would keep his job.
Then the hazing suspension and firing happened and Pat Fitzgerald was fired on Monday afternoon. In my mind, the President didn't have any choice and should've done it on Friday when he levied the "summer vacation suspension".
Now what? I assume Northwestern will name an interim head coach or will they try to pull a guy off the street like a Big Game Bob Stoops or even a young and up and coming coach like Michigan OC Sherrone Moore. The problem is, if you name an interim your basically killing 2 recruiting classes and with Northwestern's academic standing, that's pretty much your only path to attracting talent. Big Game Bob is probably a reach but someone like David Shaw would not be.
On a side note, Northwestern's top recruit is a CB from West Bloomfield named Jamir Benjamin. I wonder what Michigan's final need is in the 2024 class?
Even though the transfer portal window is closed, Northwestern players will have 30 days to enter (not decide on a new school) the transfer portal.
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| Mazie and Blue Review |
There is a lot of work being done at the Big House for the start of the 2023 campaign. New scoreboards and lighting are getting a major upgrade. The new scoreboards will be larger, brighter, and use less energy than the old ones. The new lighting will also be designed to provide a light show during halftime and timeouts during night games. It didn't seem that long ago that Michigan didn't even have permanent lights and had to bring in temporary lighting structures for 3:30 games and the occasional night game. If I remember correctly David Brandon got ESPN to pay for the original permanent lights.
3 comments:
I don't think you've heard the last of this Northwestern incident... Some players have said The hazing never happened. Pat Fitzgerald still has the support of the players
Ron:
Playing devil's advocate those that are saying it never happened could very well be the ones that participated in the hazing. Look in my mind hazing is peer pressure taken to the extreme! Being part of a team is conformity. It's everybody rowing in the same direction. It's not always up to the coaches to get the players to toe-the-line. That being said, sometimes people take it too far, i.e. physical injuries or whatever the NW thing was??? Sexual Abuse???? Unless I missed something wasn't it simulated? Not condoning it, but I'm not appalled by it either. Maybe if there are more details to follow, perhaps I would be. Sorry if I can't help but feel that if Fitz was coming off a 11-1 or even 7-4 record, this is not an issue. he gets the 2 weeks suspension and everyone moves forward. I just find it disingenuous how programs/teams use stuff like this to move on from a coach when in fact, its really about the team's record.
From what I hear there's only one player who's accusing of hazing why was this one player picked out for one reason and also there's a reason to believe he had something against Fitzgerald personally... It just sounds fishy to me
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