Northwestern Wildcats rewards football coach Pat Fitzgerald with 10-year contract

Northwestern Wildcats rewards football coach Pat Fitzgerald with 10-year contract

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Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald has agreed to a new 10-year contract with the school that runs through the 2030 season.

Fitzgerald, a former Northwestern linebacker who won two Defensive Player of the Year honors, is the most winning coach in the team’s history, with a record of 106 to 81 in 15 seasons. Since 2015, he has guided Northwestern to two seasons of 10 wins, four consecutive bowl wins and two Big Ten West Division championships over the past three years.

The 46-year-old was named Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2020 and won the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018.

Several NFL teams in recent years have expressed interest in Fitzgerald, who has also turned down opportunities from other college programs.

“We have built the foundation for competing for championships together with the best opportunity for academic and personal development anywhere in college football,” said Fitzgerald in a statement. “We all have a lot to be proud of, but our best is yet to come.”

Athletic director Jim Phillips, who will leave Northwestern in February to become ACC commissioner, prioritized the finalization of a long-term deal for Fitzgerald before he left school, a source said. Northwestern has set up a search committee for Phillips’ successor and could hire him in the coming weeks.

“We have one of the best coaches in college football and, most importantly, an unusually suitable leader for this university,” said Phillips in a statement. “During his tenure, Coach Fitzgerald has built a culture of unwavering belief in excellence, both on and off the field, and has led our Wildcats to unprecedented sustained success. They pride themselves on incredible achievements in the classroom, in the community and competition, and will in the coming years. “

Fitzgerald, who helped lead the Northwestern Rose Bowl in 1995 and the consecutive Big Ten championships as a player under Gary Barnett, returned to school in 2001 as an assistant. He trained defensive quarterbacks and linebackers from 2001 to 2005 under Randy Walker, and became the head coach shortly after Walker died suddenly in June 2006.

Under Fitzgerald, Northwestern made 10 bowl appearances and recorded five Top 25 finals, including ranking 10th in 2020. Fitzgerald entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and 14 of Northwestern’s 16 appearances came with him as a player or coach.

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