Jim O'Donnell: Sean McDonough's on-air candor cut through Northwestern's bowl win

BEHIND THE PLAY-BY-PLAY VENEER of Sean McDonough are the heart and instincts of a quality journalist.

Part of that is pedigree: For more than four decades, his father – the late Will McDonough – was one of the nation's premier football writers at The Boston Globe and later a top-flight NFL reporter for CBS and NBC.

Saturday night on ABC — late in the first half of Northwestern's 14-7 victory over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl — McDonough was sharp and devastating in expressing his findings on the allegations of hazing that led to the firing of NU head coach Pat Fitzgerald in July.

WITH THE WILDCATS TRYING to extend a 7-0 lead, McDonough said:

“I reached out to Pat Fitzgerald and he politely declined just because there is legal action that is ongoing. But he did say, 'Please convey how proud I am of these players and this staff.' (There's) still a great deal of affection from these players for 'Fitz.'

“The university (did) an investigation (and) felt there was enough evidence to support that there had been hazing.”

THEN IN HIS LIVE BLOWTORCH, McDonough said: “Many of the people, all of the people, we talked to over the last couple of days thought it was a bunch of nonsense. But that's the situation.”

A short click later, he increased the heat: “As a matter of fact, one of the assistant coaches we talked to yesterday said he thought it was totally made up. He said (in) all of his years coaching football, it's one of the best cultures he's been around. This from a guy who's been coaching for a long time.”

Analyst Greg McElroy – the former QB of 2009 national champion Alabama – moved to end the segment by saying: “There's a lot of people that have different stories about what happened, what didn't happen. But these players compartmentalized that disappointment and really put together a special season.”

WHETHER THE CONCUSSION from McDonough's broadside was felt by Michael Schill – the Northwestern president who dismissed Fitzgerald – is unknown.

It was an amazing network shot at Schill, Northwestern's administration and board of trustees and all remaining elements of the university's tattered sports culture that was imploded last summer.

Explicit in McDonough's words before his damning statements was that he had spoken to David Braun, Fitzgerald's hasty successor as NU head coach, prior to the telecast.

Later implicit was that Braun was among those who called the allegations against Fitzgerald “nonsense.”

FITZGERALD HIRED BRAUN as his new defensive coordinator last winter from North Dakota State. Using Fitzgerald recruits and much of Fitzgerald's system, Braun directed a resolute 8-5 campaign. He lived at Fitzgerald's North Shore home for two months at the start of 2023 while settling into his new regimen in Evanston.

After several bigger coaching names turned Northwestern away, Braun was elevated from “interim” to permanent HC last month. His four-year contract – heavily university-friendly – has a potential maximum worth of $13 million. That makes him the lowest-paid head football coach in The Big Ten.

AS FOR FITZGERALD, his $130 million lawsuit against Schill and Northwestern continues to progress through the Cook County Circuit Court system. The filing seeks $68M in income owed and $62M in future lost income. He retains the right for further actions against the school and individual accusers for defamation of character and other diminishments.

Those accusers – believed to total at least 11 in multiple sports — also maintain active civil suits against Northwestern.

At the center of that side is Carl Richardson. He's the reserve quarterback – since gone from the program – who reportedly made the initial charges against Fitzgerald and NU's football culture 13 months ago.

RICHARDSON GRADUATED IN AUGUST with a degree in psychology.

He also has an intriguing back-channel link to the highest recesses of Northwestern's administrative tier.

His father – Kevin Richardson – played linebacker at Stanford in the late 1980s alongside a backup named Jonathan Holloway. (A third Cardinal teammate was Cory Booker, the junior United States Senator from New Jersey.)

Holloway served as provost of Northwestern from August 2017 to June 2020. He exited to become the president of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Richardson the father is a “wealth adviser” in California who also serves as a local radio analyst for San Jose State football.

Over the past five months, he has not responded to emails from The Daily Herald requesting comment.

AMID THE ONGOING FOG, the inaugural recruiting efforts of Braun and associates recently received a notable regional boost.

Ryan Boe, the star quarterback for Batavia High and head coach Dennis Piron, announced that he's flipping his commitment from North Dakota State to Northwestern. Boe was named captain of The Daily Herald's Fox All-Area 2023 football team on Dec. 2.

Braun's Wildcats will need all the fresh help they can muster. In Early Commit school rankings by 247Sports.com, NU was No. 100, That was last in the Big Ten and squeezed between Mid-American Conference staples Kent State (No, 99) and Northern Illinois (No. 102).

ABC's blunt McDonough held his ABC fire on that stark reality.

Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.