We’ve been here before. After firing Rich Rodriguez in 2011, Michigan football needed a new leader. Then-Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon moved quickly to request a meeting with Northwestern Head Football coach, Pat Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald promptly met with NU athletic director Jim Phillips, and after wooing the university administration with plans for new facilities he wanted, signed a contract extension through 2020. In 2017, he signed another extension that keeps him in Evanston through 2026.
In 2018, after an unprecedented season that featured the Wildcats’ first ever Big Ten West title and Big Ten Championship appearance, rumors started to swirl again of a Fitz departure.