The 2025 Penn State football season quickly went from a season full of promise to a disaster. They fired James Franklin as a result, and the team went from a championship contender to one struggling to make a bowl game. The Nittany Lions have a wide range of candidates to choose from, and recently, Pat Fitzgerald has joined the list after being cleared of wrongdoing at Northwestern.
The Athletic's college football reporters Bruce Feldman and Ralph D. Russo have reported that Penn State is talking to as many candidates as possible. Still, Pat Fitzgerald has entered the conversation after being cleared by Northwestern. They report that he has some prominent supporters in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions are also looking at Brent Key, Bob Chesney, Will Stein, and Brian Hartline.
They both reported on it and said, “Another name to know is former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who we hear has some strong supporters in Happy Valley. Fitzgerald was fired after an investigation found hazing in his program, but he recently settled a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit with the school.”
Fitzgerald managed to find some consistent success at his alma mater, Northwestern, leading the team to three 10-win seasons and only its second top-10 finish in 75 years in 2020. However, his 7-2 season in 2020 was also surrounded by three seasons in which his teams went 3-24 in Big Ten play and 7-29 overall.
It would be an out-of-the-box hire, but Fitzgerald is a former Big Ten linebacker from Northwestern. It could fit in well with Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft, who is also a former linebacker in the Big Ten, but at Indiana. The fact that he has been cleared makes him an intriguing option for the Nittany Lions.
It is also worth mentioning that Fitzgerald preaches physicality and is a defensive-minded coach. That toughness would be excellent for Penn State. However, the other issue with the hire is that his teams have never been offensive juggernauts, and that could be a dealbreaker, considering some of the problems the Penn State offense has come from.
