22 Facts About Pat Fitzgerald

1.

Pat Fitzgerald was selected after the unexpected death of Randy Walker and announced at a press conference on July 7,2006.

2.

Pat Fitzgerald was 31 at the time, making him the youngest head football coach in the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Division I FBS by five years.

3.

Pat Fitzgerald was awarded a Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1997 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

4.

Pat Fitzgerald was unable to play in the Rose Bowl after breaking his leg in the next-to-last game of the 1995 season against Iowa.

5.

Pat Fitzgerald won both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award in 1995 and again in 1996, becoming the first two-time winner of both honors.

6.

Pat Fitzgerald won the Jack Lambert Trophy as best linebacker in the nation in 1996.

7.

Pat Fitzgerald was not drafted after his senior year, but he was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, who released him after just two pre-season games.

8.

Pat Fitzgerald is the 15th Northwestern player or coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

9.

Pat Fitzgerald was honored at a ceremony on December 9,2008 in New York City and enshrined in the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in July 2009.

10.

Pat Fitzgerald then moved on to the University of Colorado under his former Northwestern head coach, Gary Barnett.

11.

Pat Fitzgerald took a job at the University of Idaho before returning to Northwestern in 2001, where he served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator until his promotion to head coach after the unexpected death of Randy Walker in June 2006.

12.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald decided to go for the two point conversion and the win but Sieman slipped after taking the snap and was downed by the Wolverines, ending the game with another loss.

13.

Northwestern has had four ten-win seasons in its history; Pat Fitzgerald has been part of three of them.

14.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald decided to forego a field goal, the safe play, and kept his offense on the field.

15.

In thirteen seasons, Pat Fitzgerald has coached nine winning teams and one team that finished the season at.

16.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to ten bowl games in thirteen seasons; before he became head coach the 'Cats had only been in six bowl games in 123 football seasons.

17.

From 2016 to 2018, Coach Pat Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to three consecutive bowl wins.

18.

Pat Fitzgerald is one of only two coaches in school history to lead Northwestern to a bowl game victory, is the only NU coach to win back-to-back bowl games and has the most bowl game victories in school history.

19.

Pat Fitzgerald is one of six coaches in the NCAA who has been at his school the longest and joins Kirk Ferentz of Iowa as the longest tenured active coaches in the Big Ten.

20.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald is a supporter of Northwestern athletics other than football.

21.

Pat Fitzgerald is from Orland Park, Illinois, and resides in Northfield, Illinois with his wife, Stacy, and three sons, Jack, Ryan, and Brendan.

22.

Pat Fitzgerald purchased a $2.3 million newly constructed home in January 2010.