Jim O'Donnell: Pat Fitzgerald is close to filing a mega-million lawsuit against Northwestern
ANY HINT OF ALL'S QUIET on the Northwestern legal-and-athletics front is about to end.
Former football coach Pat Fitzgerald is working toward finalization of a lawsuit against the university alleging breach of contract. The action has an estimated potential gross recovery nearing $100 million.
Dan Webb — Fitzgerald's lead attorney and a partner in the Chicago-based Winston & Strawn — will announce the filing. Webb's statement is expected no later than Oct. 14 and could come sooner.
Fitzgerald, 48, will seek more than $40 million from his existing pact, which was scheduled to run through the 2030 season. He's also expected to ask for a large additional sum in lost coaching income from the following decade, which would end near his 66th birthday on Dec. 2, 2040.
The probability of the suit has been bubbling under troubled NU athletics since July 10. That was the day that first-year university President Michael Schill fired Fitzgerald.
THE ABRUPT DISMISSAL CAME less than 72 hours after Schill announced a two-week unpaid suspension of the coach following a six-month, university-funded “independent investigation” into allegations of hazing. The full report of that probe's findings has never been made public.
Schill's escalation — which he attributed to a weekend “epiphany” — led to more than 10 former Northwestern football players filing suit against the school and its primary agents. Those actions allege assorted instances of hazing, racism and related sexual abuse in the conduct of the NU football program.
The primary Northwestern agents named in actions include: Schill, Fitzgerald, past President Morton Schapiro, athletic director Derrick Gragg and former athletic director Jim Phillips.
Fitzgerald and Phillips have most prominently denied knowledge of any of the alleged abuses. Phillips is commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
SCHILL'S DECISION BROUGHT a swift end to Fitzgerald's high-profile 30-year association with Northwestern.
As an All-America linebacker, he led the Wildcats to a rare Rose Bowl appearance in 1995. As head coach from 2006-22, the Orland Park native pushed NU to unprecedented heights, including a school-record 110 coaching wins, 10 bowl trips and two Big Ten West championships.
If the Fitzgerald case goes to trial, the matter will center on whether he was “terminated for cause” as stipulated in his most recent contract. Sources familiar with the situation say that as Fitzgerald cycled through no fewer than four extensions since 2009, any termination clauses were updated with wording more favorable to him.
COUNSEL FOR NORTHWESTERN ALSO MOVES toward a more delicate position because of the forthcoming Fitzgerald / Webb salvo. That's because in the lawsuits of student-athletes against NU, the school attorneys are, at point of entry, on the same side as the former coach in denying instances of hazing, racism and sexual abuse within the football program.
But now, in the matter of Fitzgerald vs. Northwestern — barring out-of-court settlement — university attorneys would face the civil burden of establishing a persuasive “cause” for his firing.
Because of Schill's July flip-flop, that cause could only be either Fitzgerald's direct awareness of abuses or sufficient awareness through NU staff to justify his firing.
To date, there is no proof of either. But none of the lawsuits by student-athletes have been litigated.
THE STATUS OF GRAGG is also notable. He has been A.D. at Northwestern since 2021. His contract has 2 ½ years to run. He reportedly sought an extension and has been put on hold. The former University of Tulsa athletic director is said to be eyeballing the open slot at the University of Washington. That position became available in August when Jennifer Cohen departed to become the first woman director of athletics at USC.
Gragg has also reportedly been denied the opportunity to hire a search firm to find a permanent replacement for Fitzgerald. Since mid-July, David Braun has been Northwestern's interim coach. He was hired by Fitzgerald as defensive coordinator from North Dakota State in January.
THE FULL NORTHWESTERN BOARD OF TRUSTEES met late last week for the first time since the July implosion. Some members stayed on to watch Braun's Wildcats record a remarkable 37-34 overtime victory against visiting Minnesota Saturday night.
NU trailed 31-10 entering the fourth quarter. After forcing the OT, quarterback Ben Bryant hit tight end Charlie Mangieri — a fifth-season graduate student — with a spectacular 25-yard touchdown pass to win the game.
When a camera of The Big Ten Network locked in on Mangieri's end zone celebration, he tossed the football aside and made two hand signals.
IN THE FIRST, THE PEORIA NATIVE held up five fingers of one hand and one of the other. That represented the “51” that Fitzgerald wore as a player when he helped restore football glory to The Enchanted Lakefront.
That was followed by Mangieri's two hands forming a heart.
While learned minds now dig even deeper for more pending Northwestern legal battles, somehow the resilient spirit of young adults plays through.
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.