Northwestern’s football program is in turmoil, with the program likely facing some losses in the transfer portal as well as needing to navigate finding an answer at head coach. Not an easy task, and one compounded by the ticking of the clock with an opener at Rutgers football less than two months away.
With the firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday, the biggest issue for Northwestern is internally repairing and healing the program following some nasty allegations. But there is also the big picture issue of who will lead this team in a few weeks at Rutgers.
No interim head coach has been named yet although defensive coordinator David Braun is acting as the program’s liaison.
Big Ten Network analyst Howard Griffith called Fitzgerald “the face of what Northwestern stands for.” The former Big Ten fullback, appearing on BTN this week, talked about the magnitude of the on-the-field implications for the Wildcats program.
“No, one person is bigger than the university or bigger that the organization. It’s going to be hard,” Griffith said on the Big Ten Network this week.
“It’s just not going to be an easy job. It just isn’t and you think about looking forward to divisions going away – this is going to be a difficult job but not a job that coaches aren’t going to want. They just have to know that they have the security and the time to build the program the way it needs to be built. Because now you don’t know whether those players are going to stay. You just have no idea. So you’re going to have to spend some time recruiting the kids that are there.”
Thoughtful and composed, Griffith continued that point. With Braun currently the point person for the football program as well as having the inside track to be named the interim coach, it certainly makes for a confusing time for Northwestern.
“The interim coach or whoever’s in charge is going to have a tough job ahead of him,” Griffith said.
“But at the end of the day, these kids are going to want to go out and play and they’re going to want to continue to get that great education from Northwestern. and they’re going to continue to move forward.”
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