The Wildcats of the Northwest reward football coach Pat Fitzgerald with a ten-year offer

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Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald has agreed a new ten-year contract with the school that extends over the 2030 season.

Fitzgerald, a former Northwestern star defender who twice won the defensive player of the year honors, is the most winning coach in team history, with a 106-81 record in 15 seasons. Since 2015, he has guided the Northwest to two seasons of ten wins, four straight wins and two Big Ten West Division championships in the past three years.

The 46-year-old was named Bobby Dodd’s national coach of the year in 2020 and won the Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 2018.

Several NFL teams in recent years have expressed interest in Fitzgerald, who has also turned down opportunities from other college programs.

β€œWe have built the foundation to compete for championships along with the best opportunity for academic and personal development of any part of college football,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “We all have a lot to be proud of, but our best is yet to come.”

Athletic director Jim Phillips, who will leave the Northwest in February to become ACC commissioner, prioritized the completion of a long-term deal for Fitzgerald before leaving school, a source said . Northwestern has set up a Phillips successor research committee and could hire him in the coming weeks.

β€œWe have one of the best coaches in college football and, most importantly, an unusual leader for that college,” Phillips said in a statement. “Throughout his tenure, Coach Fitzgerald has built a culture of strong belief in excellence, both on and off the field, and has led our wild cats to unprecedented sustained success. They have incredible success. in the classroom, in the community and in the competition, and they will do so for years to come. “

Fitzgerald, who helped lead Northwestern’s Rose Bowl career in 1995 and the Big Ten consecutive championships as Gary Barnett’s player, returned to school in 2001 as an assistant. He coached linebackers and linebackers from 2001 to 2005 under the direction of Randy Walker, and then became head coach shortly after Walker died suddenly in June 2006.

Under Fitzgerald, Northwestern has made 10 bowling appearances and recorded five Top 25 rankings, including a No. 10 ranking in 2020. Fitzgerald entered the Football College Hall of Fame in 2008 and 14 of Northwestern’s 16 bowling appearances. they have come to him as a player or coach.

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