Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald 'absolutely knew' about hazing within football program, former player says

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Northwestern Wildcats football coach Pat Fitzgerald "absolutely knew" about the hazing that was going on in the program, a former player said Sunday as specific details of the alleged incidents surfaced earlier in the week.

The former Wildcats player told ESPN he spoke to university president Michael Schill about the hazing he said he witnessed while he was in the program. Fitzgerald has been the head coach at Northwestern since 2006 and led them to three 10-win seasons over the course of his tenure. He was suspended for two weeks as the university gathered more information about the allegations.

"Fitz absolutely knew about hazing in this program," the former player told ESPN. "Fitz absolutely failed by not intervening. Fitz knew and he should have made it stop, and if he truly did not know, he should not be the head coach. Either way, he should not be the head coach, because he is not monitoring and protecting the safety and well-being of student-athletes."

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Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald speaks during the Big Ten Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Indianapolis. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

The former player told the outlet that Schill was "extremely receptive" to his story and offered resources to help with the trauma from the experiences.

A current player on the Wildcats team told ESPN that the former player’s objective was to take down Fitzgerald and get him removed from the program. The current player added that "the truth is none of that stuff happened in our locker room."

The former player added that he wanted to get Fitzgerald