Northwestern AD Calls 'Cats Against the World' CFB Shirts Worn by Coaches 'Tone Deaf'

Northwestern football coaches and staff members have been seen wearing "Cats Against the World" shirts with the No. 51, the number worn by ex-head coach and Wildcat star linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired last month following an independent investigation into hazing allegations that reportedly occurred while he ran the program.

Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg has not taken kindly to those shirts, releasing a statement that notably calls them "inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf."

A July statement from the "entire" Northwestern football team expressed strong support for Fitzgerald and called the hazing allegations "exaggerated and twisted." Rittenberg relayed the remarks.

Northwestern president Michael Schill initially suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks on July 7, but he changed course three days later, citing the coach's "failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program."

"During the investigation, eleven current or former football student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing within the football program," Schill wrote on July 10. "In new media reporting today, still more former Northwestern football student-athletes confirmed that hazing was systemic dating back many years. This has never been about one former student-athlete and his motives; this is much bigger than that."

Significant hazing allegations have been levied by numerous ex-players in lawsuits, as Tom Schad of USA Today summarized in late July.

Schill stated the hazing "included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values."

Fitzgerald, who played at Northwestern from 1993-1996 and even led the Wildcats to a Rose Bowl appearance, was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

He later coached at Northwestern from 2001-2022, including as head coach from 2006 until July 10 of this year. He has also denied knowledge of hazing allegations within the program, per Rittenberg.

Former North Dakota State defensive coordinator David Braun, who joined Northwestern under Fitzgerald this offseason to assume the DC position, has since been elevated to interim head coach.