Pat Fitzgerald guided his 2012 Northwestern football team to 10 wins, tying the school record set by the much discussed 1995 squad led by Gary Barnett. Fitzgerald has won 9 this season with one game, and then a bowl game remaining. He won nine in ’08, tying the nine Barnett won in ’96 for second place on the list. Pat Fitzgerald has quietly led his team to an exceptional, and completely unexpected 9-2 season with a struggling redshirt freshman at the quarterback position.
With so many premier, brand name jobs open this college football coaching carousel, is this the year Pat Fitzgerald finally moves to one of those?
“He’ll never leave. That’s his school, it’s where he played” said Kirk Herbstreit when I sat down with him at The Drake Hotel Tuesday afternoon. The ESPN Analyst was in town to reveal the latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings from the Champions Classic at the United Center.
“The situation with how he took the job, with coach passing, he lives it. He breathes it. There’s no way he’ll leave,” Herbstreit added.
So with openings at USC, South Carolina, Mizzou, Virginia Tech and more, with more openings still to come, plus the domino effect that occurs every coaching carousel, Fitzgerald will be a sought after commodity.
Of course, he’s also been linked with recent openings at schools like Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and USC in the very recent past, and of course that didn’t happen either.
Herbstreit was joined by fellow ESPN College Gameday Analyst David Pollack, and Joey Galloway, co-host of College Gamenight Final. Galloway expanded upon the Pat Fitzgerald discussion.
“I don’t think so, given my time covering Northwestern and in talking with him,” said Galloway.
“When you talk to him he makes it really seem like he is the program and it would be hard to imagine Coach Fitzgerald leaving Northwestern to go somewhere else. Now is he talented enough to do that? Yes.”
“It just seems like represents what Northwestern is and enjoys doing that, so I couldn’t see him leaving, He’s done such a good job there.”
On a side note, Northwestern Football fans took offense when Galloway declared NU the most overrated team in the initial college football playoff rankings. It turns out the ESPN press release attributing that quote to him was incorrect.
“Must have been someone else, must have had me confused with somebody else, said Galloway on Tuesday.
“My most overrated team since the beginning was Alabama.”
Glad we got both of these things cleared up.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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