Timeline: Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern football career as a player and coach
Pat Fitzgerald spent a total of 26 football seasons at Northwestern: four as a player, five on the coaching staff and 17 as head coach.
On Monday the university announced he had been fired in the wake of a hazing scandal.
Here’s a timeline of his playing and coaching career at Northwestern.
1993: Graduated from Sandburg High School in Orland Park, where he was a Tribune All-State linebacker, and joined the Northwestern football program that fall.
1995: As a standout linebacker for the Wildcats, he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award as the national defensive player of the year and was named first-team All-America and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The team won the Big Ten, had the program’s first winning season since 1971 and lost in the Rose Bowl to USC. A broken leg suffered in the second-to-last regular-season game kept Fitzgerald from playing in the Rose Bowl.
1996: As a team captain, he repeated as the Nagurski and Bednarik winner, first-team All-America and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and added the Jack Lambert Trophy as the nation’s top linebacker and the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The Wildcats shared the Big Ten title and lost to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl.
1997: Was not selected in the NFL draft but signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, then was released after two preseason games.
2001: Returned to Northwestern as the defensive backs coach after one-year stints on the coaching staffs of Maryland, Colorado and Idaho.
2002: Moved to linebackers coach.
2002: Inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame.
2004: Added the recruiting coordinator title to his coaching duties.
July 7, 2006: Became head coach after the death of Randy Walker eight days earlier. At the time was the youngest FBS head coach at 31.
December 2008: Selected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player.
May 2011: Agreed to a 10-year deal that extends through 2020.
Jan. 1, 2013: Victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl made him the winningest coach in Northwestern football history and was the school’s first bowl victory since 1949.
April 2017: Signed a 10-year contract extension through the 2026 season.
2020: In a pandemic-truncated season, Northwestern won the Citrus Bowl over Auburn and finished the season ranked No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll. He marked his 100th career victory in October and later was named the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year.
January 2021: Signed a new 10-year contract through 2030.
July 10, 2023: Fired by Northwestern in the wake of a hazing scandal. After 17 seasons as head coach, his record was 110-101 overall and 65-76 in the Big Ten.
