Pat Fitzgerald Runs Up the Score
🫏 Hack Mule Comms Analysis
Crisis communications is a corporate contact sport. You get knocked down, you fight to control the field, you use a playbook, you huddle with coaches, and ultimately you win or lose depending on the score when the clock runs out.
That explains why, when I read an interview with former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald the other day, my first thought was, “This guy should be running a Fortune 500 company.”
Fitzgerald is emerging from career limbo after a two-year battle to reclaim his reputation following his firing by Northwestern’s now-former president, Michael Schill. Mum about the details — but clearly satisfied after settling a $130 million wrongful-termination suit — Fitzgerald says he feels “vindicated.
In fact, he said it four times in a short ESPN interview last week. Statistically, that’s a lot of vindication.
He also mentioned that he’s seeking “alignment” in his next coaching position, took “responsibility,” and spoke of how he had looked forward to demanding “accountability” from the miscreants.
A tear came to my eye as I read his words, and my cynical communicator’s heart grew three sizes that day. That’s how the great CEOs do it, Coach.
The interview marked Fitz’s first and only public statement since his July 2023 ouster. That is the kind of message discipline PR people pray their clients might have — silence can be even more effective than communication when deployed at the right time.
Nothing demonstrates this better than the sad tale of Schill’s tenure at Northwestern. After fumbling the Fitzgerald firing — much to the ire of many of us alumni — Schill entered a baffling negotiation with Palestinian protesters and a difficult appearance before Congress.
During this time, rather than exercising message discipline, Schill’s office issued roughly 75 “Leadership Notes” — messages to students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni — stuffed with talk about “enduring values,” “dialogue,” and “community.”
I have to imagine they were going for “transparency.” Instead, it was an institutional seizure with fill-in-the-blanks messages that read like crisis comms Mad Libs.
So, two years later, what’s the score? Well, Fitzgerald lost a forever home coaching his alma mater, but he regained his reputation, won an apparently lucrative settlement, and positioned himself for great things.
Northwestern hasn’t fared as well. The football program is languishing toward the bottom of the Big Ten. The university paid a settlement to Fitz and lost $790 million in federal funding. It has eliminated some 425 jobs this year. And Schill is out.
So, Fitz 1-NU zilch. Guess we know who read his playbook. Go U, Fitz!
Northwestern has sports teams? 🤔