Evanston, IL (Sports Network) – Northwestern University and head football coach Pat Fitzgerald have agreed to a new 10-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the new deal will take Fitzgerald through the 2020 season. His old seven-year contract, signed in June 2009, was good through 2015.
“I’m humbled and appreciative of the commitment shown by Northwestern,” said Fitzgerald in a statement. “With this support from our administration, our coaches and players expect to compete for championships.”
Fitzgerald has a record of 34-29 with three bowl appearances in five seasons as Northwestern’s head coach. He took over on July 7, 2006, just a week after Randy Walker died suddenly. Walker had coached the Wildcats for seven seasons before dying from a heart attack.
The Wildcats have posted three straight winning seasons under Fitzgerald, including a 7-6 mark in 2010. They have played in two straight New Year’s Day bowl games, including the inaugural TicketCity Bowl in Dallas this past year.
“It is paramount for Northwestern football to have great leadership,” said Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips. “There is no better individual to lead Chicago’s Big Ten Team than Pat. He is a tremendous teacher and truly values developing young men athletically, academically and socially. Our football program is having unprecedented success — on the football field, in the classroom and in the community — and that is due to Pat’s outstanding leadership.”
Fitzgerald starred for Northwestern as a two-time All-America linebacker in the mid-1990s, helping the Wildcats to the Big Ten title in 1995 and a share of the crown the following year, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. He joined the Northwestern staff in 2001 as a defensive secondary coach and took over as linebackers coach the following year.
You can go to www.aasiwins.com for all your free NCAAF winners, news, articles, and updates.