Sure hope the NCAA investigators decide to poke around Evanston for a bit after all of this news.
I don’t know why they’d bother; this is a real problem. It’s not like burgers were involved.
And what would they do anyway? Impose a postseason ban?
So when Day fires Knowles in Nov after Michigan curb stomps OSU in A2 for the third straight season, he then hires Fitz to be their new DC.
Like Brady Hoke, Fitz has never been a coordinator.
He'll go to the NFL. Once he turned down the Michigan job he was never leaving Northwestern for another college. He'll go work for Packers or something like that.
Like Brady Hoke, Fitz has never been a coordinator.
Are you saying like Hoke at the time he was fired here? Because his next job after Michigan was DC at Oregon...
Not making light of this incident or hazing in the least. NW’s reaction was what I’d expect from such serious allegations. That being said, I believe a guy that was passed over a couple of years ago would be a big success in Evanston.
Pat Shurmur would take that gig and beat the Spartans like they were in a tunnel. In all seriousness, he wouldn’t have to sully his reputation working for PRIME and people up in East Landfill know that they made a big mistake in not hiring Pat instead of Tuck running.
Hazing in football....in other news, water is wet and it's hot in July
What's the point of this comment?
I think they're saying that simulating gang rape is no big deal. Trauma inducing ritual humiliation for the sake of "team bonding" is just everyday stuff!
Referring to what went on at Northwestern as just "hazing" really doesn't do it justice.
There are a number of ways to indoctrinate new (first year) players into a program. As others pointed out - having each player sing / dance in front of the team is one way - carrying out / bringing back practice gear is another - what seems to have happened at Northwestern is NOT an appropriate way.
And, if players do some "not so smart" things - there are other ways to handle this. One example might be - carrying a football around with you to class, around campus, etc. Another way, might be to do stairs at the Stadium (granted Ryan Field doesn't have as many rows as Michigan Stadium but - a point can still be made).
These activities really are in excusable - period.
Water is not wet when it's frozen. Also, July is winter in the Southern Hemisphere. So...yeah.
now tell us about lockerroom talk.
They had no other choice. Chicago media turns its attention to the Wildcats during the dog days of summer. Early retirement for Fitz.
Nailed it.
I have to say, the sinister side of me thinks about what would've happened to this story if it was a different time of year.
My hope is that they'd reach the same conclusion, but I'm not so sure.
Yeah, sports talk radio and the local are giving this this non-stop coverage. They even had the person who came forward interviewed today.
Yeah this felt more and more inevitable with each passing day.
Of all the dumb things to get fired for, allowing a pretty active hazing program to go on for several years is up near the top.
If what Moeller did happened at OSU it be the most respectful way an OSU coach has left in 4 decades.
Obviously Rich Rod got fired for the team's on-field performance, but it does beg the question of what might've happened if he'd sung an actually cool song:
Wasn't he drunk at Excalibur?
Yes, in Southfield. Red Fox is where Hoffa disappeared from and was in Bloomfield Hills.
I'd say it's worse than either of your two examples.
Everything I've read about Gary indicated he was not a drinker by habit—he wasn't one of those guys who's pounding down the beers three nights a week. Which suggests to me he wasn't experienced at managing his quantity, and wasn't experienced at managing himself if he exceeded his limit.
Obviously something set him off that night, and we all can speculate just what it was. He fucked up on a single occasion by getting blotto in a restaurant, and then hugely compounded his fuckup by making threats against and assaulting the arresting cop. He wasn't the first person in history to totally lose his self-control after getting hammered, but the responsibility was his, and his alone.
But in contrast to Fitz, what Moeller did was something in his personal life—it had no connection to the program he was running. It didn't reflect how his players were being treated by the staff, or how the players dealt with each other.
RR was a dead man walking when he decided to do that stupid song. Even if he had chosen to sing "The Victors" instead, he still would have been fired. Whether it was choosing defensive coordinators or choosing appropriate songs to sing at a banquet, he was pretty clueless.
The continuing flow of information about Fitz and NW indicates the hazing was going on for a long time—it wasn't just a temporary thing instigated by some disreputable players. Fitz had ample time to take responsibility and stop it, and he made the conscious, calculated decision not to do so.
Agree, of course. But head coaches — especially those who went through similar hazings themselves, when they were players (as I assume Fitz did) — are famously blind about the actual damage these things do. I'm sure even now he's thinking, "Jesus, people are overreacting to simple playful behavior. Buncha Nancies!"
Humans are famously bad at empathy. We know we should do it, and many people at least know how to pretend, but God we're bad at it.
Coaches always think these things are overblown. I'm just glad, these days, that's not the end of the story. (Or at least, not as often as it used to be).
Perfeck time to kick NW out of the B1G and bring in Oregon.
Does anyone care how the ENTIRE team feels about this?
LOL! I can't wait to find out who really wrote that claptrap.
WAS there ever a more overrated coach than this chud?
If we are quantifying overrated in $…. Tuck would like a word
The only BIG coach I like is that guy Harbaugh at Michigan
Does Henning transfer back?
NU, come for the overt racism, stay for the naked slingshots.
The question is that who else knows. If hazing is beyond the football program as one of our mgoblog poster alleges, then does anyone in the AD or the university administration know? and should the buck stop at Pat?
This is why I don’t like the heaping praise on the Northwestern newspaper for jumping on this the last few days. Where were they? This clearly wasn’t a well kept secret.
It’s a student newspaper. Their football staff changes from year to year. Investigative reporting requires sources, whose trust needs to be earned. That can be hard to pull off in a few months. That’s why people are so impressed with what they’ve done here.
How the hell do student journalists uncover this in a few days, when the professional firm that Northwestern hired missed this entirely.
Both found what they were looking for.
This wasn’t a well kept secret, clearly. So, I’ll repeat my complaint about this: where were they before this week?
I think the very first thing I would do if I were head coach of a team at this point in time would be, as soon as all the kids are on campus, to have each one individually in my office.
-Have you ever seen this time of activity around this team?
-This type of activity is not condoned in this program.
-If you ever see or hear of this activity around this program, you will come straight to me.
I document and repeat this on some regular basis. It's no guarantee but at least it's some job insurance.
Can we get Steve Wiltfong to shut his whore mouth?
No shit. It’s almost as though he’s angling to be Moore’s agent.
They spent all that money on facility upgrades too.
Welcome to Media Days.
Fitzgerald has already hired Dan Webb as his lawyer.
Northwestern better have all their ducks in a row here, because that's an absolute big gun lawyer there.
This feels equivalent to an 8.5 earthquake. A story that will tear apart the NU fan base, University leadership and the entire community for years.
I agree with this take. No way Fitzgerald doesn’t go down fighting. It’s his personal reputation, after all. And who he went and hired says A LOT about this case and what may actually have happened here:
Dan Webb, co-executive chairman of Winston & Strawn, is one of the most distinguished and sought-after trial lawyers in the United States. He has tried more than 100 jury cases involving a wide variety of claims and been named a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. Notably, Dan achieved international acclaim for his successful prosecution of retired Admiral John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra Affair. He served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and has served in special prosecutor or similar roles on several occasions, including for the successful prosecution of actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago, for which he was named Am Law’s “Litigator of the Week” in December 2021.
https://www.winston.com/en/who-we-are/professionals/webb-dan-k.html#full-bio
Someone doesn’t hire Dan Webb if they are messing around.
Fitz will have the resources to pay for Webb - and, it makes sense - he wants (or needs) the strongest representation possible.
It seems to me the question will be evidence. Can it be shown / proven that Fitz knew what was going on? If he knew, was complicit, or involved - termination with cause. If it's unclear - then, it won't be protracted litigation, or any civil trial - and, a settlement will be reached.
Northwestern University's Board of Directors / Regents / President - want this closed as soon as possible. And, if there's substance to other rumors - specifically, other sports - then, this becomes a very nasty stain on a highly regarded academic institution.
So what happens to AJ Henning? Does he stay? Can he return to Michigan? Can he go somewhere else?