Pat Fitzgerald references Twitter trolls, Sandlot in epic postgame presser rant

Wow, Pat Fitzgerald.

The usually reserved Northwestern coach is typically pretty close to the vest and honestly, not that great of a quote. But following his team’s 45-6 humiliation in the Outback Bowl, Fitzgerald was in rare form.

I mean, he was in really rare form.

Fitzgerald pauses and fights back tears. "Our program has been through a lot the last two years."

— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 1, 2016

Pat Fitzgerald (jokingly): "You hope — what are they called, trolls, on Twitter? — (they) get a life."

— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) January 1, 2016

Fitzgerald takes a couple of tough questions. "Any positive questions?" Then says to a younger reporter. "You're killing me, Smalls."

— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 1, 2016

Fitzgerald asked about Tennessee and how good they are: "I'm sure you guys are going to write great things about them…

— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 1, 2016

Fitzgerald: "… and put a lot of pressure on Butch, and pick them to win the SEC next year. And our blogs will say we suck…"

— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 1, 2016

Fitzgerald then says, "That's probably a better question for Butch than me." But it was actually a pretty awesome answer.

— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 1, 2016

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald: I'm from the Southside of Chicago. We'll roll our sleeves up and go back to work. That's what we do.

— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) January 1, 2016

A couple Northwestern boosters and Outback people cheer Pat Fitzgerald on his way off the podium. He laughs, says people should be booing.

— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) January 1, 2016

What a way to end the season.