Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, 49, has been issued an unpaid two-week suspension, effective from Friday, as a result of an investigation into hazing allegations within the program.

The investigation, led by former Illinois inspector general Maggie Hickey, found evidence that supports the claims made by an anonymous whistleblower concerning hazing activities and events.

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Who is Pat Fitzgerald?

Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr., who was born on December 2, 1974, is currently in charge of the football program at Northwestern University. He took over after Randy Walker unexpectedly passed away, and on July 7, 2006, he was formally introduced as the head coach during a news conference.

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He was the youngest head football coach in the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Division I FBS at the time, with a five-year advantage over the competition. He was only 31 years old. He now holds the record for the longest head coaching tenure in Northwestern football history. He had the fifth-longest tenure among Division I FBS head coaches as of the 2022 season.

During his career, he was a standout linebacker for the Northwestern Wildcats in the middle of the 1990s. He was a significant contributor to the team’s incredible 10-1 regular season record in 1995. Over the course of his playing career, he twice won the prestigious Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award and twice earned consensus all-American honors. Fitzgerald also received the Chuck Bednarik Award in 1996 and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 1995, making him the first person to ever win both coveted awards twice.

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Following allegations of hazing activities, Fitzgerald and the Northwestern football team recently garnered headlines. After receiving information from an unnamed former student-athlete, the university opened an investigation into these claims. The investigation examined a number of incidents of wrongdoing, including claims of sexual abuse.