Ex-NU players: Lack of due process for Fitzgerald
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
A group of former Northwestern athletes has sent an open letter criticizing university administrators for a lack of due process before the firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald, saying it “left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism allegations” at the school.
The letter, obtained by ESPN, is signed by 86 ex-Northwestern athletes, including several of Fitzgerald’s former football teammates. The group focuses on university president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg, saying both displayed “a clear failure of unbiased and principled leadership.” Schill and Gragg should be fired, the former athletes contend, if they don’t “positively support our athletic programs with due process” and release the findings of an investigation Northwestern commissioned into hazing allegations from a former player under Fitzgerald.
Schill fired Fitzgerald on July 10. But, three days earlier, he had issued a two-week suspension for the head football coach after the university-commissioned investigation found evidence that largely supported the player’s allegations but insufficient evidence that Fitzgerald or other coaches were aware of any hazing incidents. Schill, on July 8, said he would reconsider penalties for Fitzgerald hours after The Daily Northwestern reported details of the player’s hazing allegations against Fitzgerald and the program.
Monday’s letter contends Schill was influenced by social media reaction and “abandoned foundational legal ethics” in firing Fitzgerald.
“By willfully ignoring due process, Northwestern University’s administration has left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism accusations to run rampant at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “Any allegation, true or not, will be allowed to cancel anyone’s career and destroy their reputation depending upon popular opinion, while simultaneously allowing the censorship of free speech. The collective gains of Northwestern’s Athletic Department over the last three decades, along with Pat Fitzgerald’s legacy and character, have almost been wiped out without any proof of guilt or, much less, even a thorough and proper investigation.”
The former athletes wrote that Gragg “fosters an environment of uncertainty, distrust, and censorship” in the athletic department. They cited Gragg’s quick repudiation of a T-shirt Northwestern players made following Fitzgerald’s firing, which reads “Cats Against The World” followed by “51,” the number Fitzgerald wore as a two-time national defensive player of the year at Northwestern. Several staff members wore the shirt at an Aug. 9 practice that was open to the media, leading Gragg, who said he didn’t know about the shirt previously, to call it “inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf.”
Sources told ESPN that players and coaches started wearing the shirt around Northwestern’s football building in mid-July.
“His comments worked to incite public opinion against his own program,” the letter reads. “Gragg made no effort to explain the team’s true intent before renouncing and shaming the players’ speech.”
Northwestern’s administration declined to comment about Monday’s letter.
The university has released only an executive summary of the original hazing investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey from the Chicago-based ArentFox Schiff law firm. Attorneys for former Northwestern football players, who have sued the university over hazing and mistreatment, also have called for the release of the complete report, as has Dan Webb, Fitzgerald’s attorney.
“We share Northwestern University administration’s deep concern over the possibility that any student-athlete has been harmed by sexual harassment, hazing, or racism while at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “We trust that these allegations will be fully investigated. However, until these allegations are properly investigated, and the lawsuits filed resolved, no judgment of guilt should be assumed, accepted, or touted by Northwestern University’s administration.”
Last week, a different group of around 1,000 former Northwestern athletes issued an open letter that defended the athletic culture, saying it isn’t defined by allegations of hazing or mistreatment. That letter did not criticize Schill nor Gragg and supported the school’s efforts to investigate hazing claims.
In announcing Fitzgerald’s firing, Schill described a partially “broken” team culture, and he and Gragg have vowed to eliminate hazing within the school’s athletic programs. Schill on Aug. 1 announced that former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch would lead a wider investigation into Northwestern’s athletic culture.
Monday’s letter from the former athletes opposes Lynch leading the probe, noting “political controversies surrounding her history and reputation.”
Former athletes who signed the letter include several players from the 1995 Northwestern football team, which won the Big Ten championship and reached the Rose Bowl, including captain Rob Johnson, Keith Lozowski, Ryan Padgett, Tucker Morrison and Graham Gnos.
Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.
Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.
“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.
Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.
“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.
Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.
Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.
“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”
Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.
“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.
Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.
Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.
Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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