Pat Fitzgerald’s Top Coaching Moments After Earning a 10-year Extension at Northwestern

Pat Fitzgerlad earned himself a 10-year contract extension this week after another successful season at Northwestern. The former Wildcats linebacker and two-time Big Ten DPOY and Chuck Bednarik Award winner (best defensive player in college football) has led the most successful stretch in school history after taking over as head coach in 2006. In his time as a player or coach, he has led Northwestern to 14 of its 16 bowl appearances.

"We have built the foundation to compete for championships in tandem with the best academic and personal development opportunity anywhere in college football," Fitzgerald said in a statement. "We all have a lot to be proud of, but our best is yet to come."

Let’s look at some of his best moments as a coach in Evanston.

2008: Winning nine games for just the fifth time in school history.

Fitzgerald struggled in his first two seasons in Evanston, winning a combined ten games (4-8 in year one and 6-6 in year two). In year three, Fitzgerald’s Wildcats won nine games and earned a spot in the Alamo Bowl (losing to Missouri 23-20 in overtime). This was the first time the Wildcats won 12 games in 12 years and just for the fifth time in school history, The groundwork was set.

2009: Highest-ranked win in school history.

2009 was another season to remember for Fitzgerald. Besides playing in their first New Year’s Day bowl game since 1996 (Northwestern lost a thrilling Outback Bowl to Auburn 38-35), Northwestern collected their highest-ranked win in school history, a 17-10 win on the road over #4 Iowa. 

2012: First bowl win in 64 years.

Before 2012, the last bowl win by a Northwestern team was the 1948 Rose Bowl. That’s a pretty big monkey to try and get off the back of a football program. After losing nine consecutive bowl games, the Wildcats finally broke through into the win column in 2012, winning the Gator Bowl over Mississippi State 34-20. He also became just the second Wildcat coach in program history to coach two nine-win teams.

2018: First conference division title in program history.

The Wildcats hadn’t won a conference championship since 2000. In 2018, Fitzgerald and co. won the program’s first-ever division title, winning the Big Ten West title with an 8-4 record and a chance to play for the conference crown in the Big Ten Title Game. Back in September, nobody thought the Wildcats would be in this spot, wildly underperforming in losses to Duke, Akron, and Michigan. Northwestern then rattled off seven wins in its next eight games to meet Ohio State in the title game. The Wildcats were thoroughly outmatched against a Buckeyes team that would eventually go on to win the Rose Bowl 45-24. Northwestern bounced back with an 11-point win against 17th-ranked Utah in the Holiday Bowl.

2020: Pandemic season ends in second division championship and another bowl win.

Despite everything else going on in the world, Northwestern and Fitzgerald rode a strong defense to a 6-1 regular season and another Big Ten West crown. Unfortunately, the Wildcats got to play Ohio State again, and lost 22-10 to the playoff-bound Buckeyes. Northwestern rebounded in their bowl game, pounding Auburn 35-19.

Many think Fitzgerald would be primed to take a jump to a major program or to the NFL, he’s that good. However, this extension writes in stone that Fitzgerald will be a Wildcat for a lot longer (Note, when asked after the 2018 Holiday Bowl win over Utah, Fitzgerald put to bed rumors of him going to the Green Bay Packers, noting he was an “I’m here forever”). Cheers, Wildcats fans.

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-By: TJ Mathewson