Northwestern Athletics - A Case Study

Earlier this month, The Daily Northwestern released an article detailing an independent investigation surrounding locker room culture within the Northwestern Football team. Initially, head coach Pat Fitzgerald was suspended for two weeks, but as more information came out surrounding the allegations, Northwestern ultimately ended up firing Fitzgerald entirely. One interesting note to point out is that no other football staff have been fired as of the publishing of this article, but it may be assumed that the new head coach will bring in his own staff regardless.

Shortly after the Northwestern Football incident, Northwestern also fired their baseball coach as well for alleged team culture issues, which ultimately created a negative light on a traditionally revered institution. The university has been maligned publicly, called out by their own faculty, and has several donor-led athletic renovations on indefinite hold while they try to make sense of what just happened in the last two weeks.

This story is a great reminder that when it comes to athletics, you can’t judge an athletic program by the school itself. Many times, coaches define team culture, team accountability, and team philosophy. Each team exists as it’s own subculture within the school, and it’s important to build a relationship with coaching staffs during the recruiting process, while also learning as much as you can from the student-athletes already on the team. Sometimes they can give you a lot of information based on what they tell you, other times they can give you a lot of information based on what they don’t tell you.

Articles Referenced

Investigation finds evidence of hazing in football program, Pat Fitzgerald Suspended

Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster is fired days after football hazing scandal