Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald embracing his fresh start
<p>Pat Fitzgerald wears an emerald tie these days and ends his press conferences with an enthusiastic "Go Green!"</p><p>But his long, often successful tenure as a player and coach at Northwestern — which <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/northwestern-hazing-scandal" >ended in an abrupt and ugly manner</a> — still casts a long shadow.</p><p>It's been three years since Fitzgerald was fired by the university amid a hazing scandal and a year after he settled a lawsuit with the school, which said its investigation did not find any evidence that he knew of or condoned any hazing.</p><p>On Wednesday, Fitzgerald was back at Big Ten Media Days at the Hilton Chicago as the first-year coach at Michigan State. He's energized by the challenge of rebuilding a program that faded from relevance since the 2020 retirement of Mark D'Antonio.</p><p>But Fitzgerald prefers the term "rebirth" to "rebuild," and the former is also an apt descriptor for this stage of his coaching career.</p><p>What did he miss about coaching during his hiatus from the college game?
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<p>Pat Fitzgerald wears an emerald tie these days and ends his press conferences with an enthusiastic "Go Green!"</p><p>But his long, often successful tenure as a player and coach at Northwestern — which <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/northwestern-hazing-scandal" >ended in an abrupt and ugly manner</a> — still casts a long shadow.</p><p>It's been three years since Fitzgerald was fired by the university amid a hazing scandal and a year after he settled a lawsuit with the school, which said its investigation did not find any evidence that he knew of or condoned any hazing.</p><p>On Wednesday, Fitzgerald was back at Big Ten Media Days at the Hilton Chicago as the first-year coach at Michigan State. He's energized by the challenge of rebuilding a program that faded from relevance since the 2020 retirement of Mark D'Antonio.</p><p>But Fitzgerald prefers the term "rebirth" to "rebuild," and the former is also an apt descriptor for this stage of his coaching career.</p><p>What did he miss about coaching during his hiatus from the college game? He pushed back politely but firmly against the idea that he went away at all.</p><p>"I never left the game, for sure," Fitzgerald said.</p><p>He worked as a volunteer assistant at Loyola Academy where one of his sons (Ryan) quarterbacked a pair of state-champion teams before walking on at Iowa and another (Brendan) will be a senior receiver this fall. Fitzgerald also spent time at Iowa with longtime Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz.</p><p>"I learned a lot," Fitzgerald said of his time at Loyola.
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- <p>Pat Fitzgerald wears an emerald tie these days and ends his press conferences with an enthusiastic "Go Green!"</p><p>But his long, often successful tenure as a player and coach at Northwestern — which <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/northwestern-hazing-scandal" >ended in an abrupt and ugly manner</a> — still casts a long shadow.</p><p>It's been three years since Fitzgerald was fired by the university amid a hazing scandal and a year after he settled a lawsuit with the school, which said its investigation did not find any evidence that he knew of or condoned any hazing.</p><p>On Wednesday, Fitzgerald was back at Big Ten Media Days at the Hilton Chicago as the first-year coach at Michigan State. He's energized by the challenge of rebuilding a program that faded from relevance since the 2020 retirement of Mark D'Antonio.</p><p>But Fitzgerald prefers the term "rebirth" to "rebuild," and the former is also an apt descriptor for this stage of his coaching career.</p><p>What did he miss about coaching during his hiatus from the college game?
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- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
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Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald embracing his fresh start
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