Northwestern Staffers Wear Shirts at Practice That Appear to Honor Pat Fitzgerald

The longtime Wildcats coach was fired amid the program’s hazing scandal.

Weeks after a hazing scandal rocked the Northwestern football program and led to the ouster of longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats are under fire yet again.

The college football world was outraged after Bradley Locker of Inside NU shared a picture of Northwestern football staffers, including offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, wearing shirts that seemed to honor Fitzgerald during practice Wednesday. The shirts had the slogan “Cats Against the World” on them and included the number 51 on it—the number Fitzgerald wore during his All-American playing career at Northwestern.

Here’s a look at the shirts, per Locker. 

Fitzgerald was fired on July 10 after allegations of hazing in the Northwestern were uncovered. While Fitzgerald has maintained that he was unaware of any hazing that took place, a slew of lawsuits have been filed against him in connection with the matter. Upon seeing the shirts, fans chimed in on social media with their outrage over the tone-deaf nature of supporting Fitzgerald given the allegations about the program’s culture. 

Moves like this seem likely to only further damage the image of the program, which opens its season Sunday, September 3 against Rutgers.