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Rumor Mill: Could Pat Fitzgerald be a candidate for Packers vacancy?
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If you love drama and gossip with your sports, this is always one of the best times of the year. The college football regular season just ended and the rumors are already swirling with the force of a tornado.
This time, it’s Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald who’s been caught in the storm.
A story from the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Tom Silverstein linked Fitzgerald with the head coaching job with the Green Bay Packers, who recently fired Mike McCarthy. The Northwestern leader was mentioned among four college coaches who could rise to the NFL ranks. The other names included Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma), and David Shaw (Stanford).
Fitzgerald just led Northwestern to its first B1G West title and appeared in the B1G Championship Game on Saturday after finishing the year with an 8-1 conference record.
Here’s what Silverstein had to say about Fitzgerald and his potential connection with the Packers:
It’s almost a lock the Packers will contact Fitzgerald, who came up through the ranks on the defensive side of the ball but has a high-octane offense. (Packers President and CEO Mark) Murphy was athletic director at the school and surprised many people when he picked Fitzgerald to coach the team when Randy Walker died of a heart attack before the 2006 season. Fitzgerald has helped establish the Wildcats as a football contender, taking them all the way the Big Ten championship game Saturday against Ohio State. In 13 seasons, he has 95 wins and has led Northwestern to eight bowl games.
The points are valid, but Fitzgerald has been such a fixture at Northwestern, and the face of the program for so long, it’s hard to imagine him leaving for the NFL.
After hearing of the potential link, Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune reached out the Northwestern head coach about the possibility. Fitzgerald confirmed he was out on the road recruiting.
He followed with a text message that read “GO CATS!”
Could Fitzgerald leave Northwestern for the NFL? It’s hard to rule that possibility out entirely. But he’s been loyal to Evanston and it’d probably take quite a bit to get him to leave his alma mater, especially after coming so close to a B1G title.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB