Payton Stewart decommits from Northwestern after hazing allegations

Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald fired Monday amid hazing allegations within his program

The Northwestern Wildcats are beginning to experience the recruiting fallout from allegations of a hazing scandal within their football program.

Just one day after Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was relieved of his duties, the program lost its No. 2 pledge in the 2024 recruiting class.

On Tuesday evening, Kelso (Washington) three-star offensive tackle Payton Stewart announced his decommitment on social media. 

"First off thank you to Northwestern staff for believing in me," he wrote. "After talking with my parents and coaches about the news that has broke I have reconsidered my decision and decided to de-commit from Northwestern. My recruitment is now back open."

For the 6-foot-7, 240-pound offensive lineman and his family. it has been a tough week - one in which they spent multiple hours discussing Stewart's future.

"Me and my parents talked about it every day multiple times a day," he said. "My parents were concerned about it pretty bad." 

Ultimately, the Stewart family decided it was best to break away from his mid-May verbal commitment for multiple reasons. 

"They bothered me quite a bit, but what mostly bothered me was the unknown like what will happen if a new head coach comes, or just what will happen to the program," he said. "And I didn’t want to be stressing about that." 

"I think the whole thing was to concerning and was a good time for a reset

That culture has become a cause of concern for people within the Northwestern community as well, as President Michael Schill addressed earlier this week. 

“The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team,” he wrote in an open letter. “The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others.”

First reported by The Daily Northwestern, a former player recently came forward with detailed allegations of ritualistic hazing within the program, some of which involved coerced sexual acts. 

According to the report, a second player confirmed those details.

Since that time, the story has become national news and Northwestern has changed its ruling of a short suspension for Fitzgerald to his termination. 

While Northwestern takes a deeper look into its football program, current players and recruits are left in limbo wondering about their academic and football futures.

For Stewart that uncertainty, coupled with the alarming nature of the hazing allegations, was enough to "reset" his recruitment.

Stewart, the nation's No. 45 offensive tackle, hasn't yet scheduled any official visits, but is beginning the process of re-connecting with programs that recruited him previously, including Arizona State, Boise State, Oregon State, Washington State and others.