’CATS AD: SHIRTS TONE DEAF
Northwestern Athletic Director Derrick Gragg criticized assistant football coaches and staff members for wearing shirts supporting fired coach Pat Fitzgerald at practice Wednesday, calling them “inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf ” given the hazing and abuse scandal engulfing the program and other teams.
“Let me be crystal clear,” he said in a statement. “Hazing has no place at Northwestern, and we are committed to do whatever is necessary to address hazing-related issues, including thoroughly investigating any incidents or allegations of hazing or any misconduct.”
Gragg said he and the university were unaware that staffers owned the black shirts with “Cats Against the World” and Fitzgerald’s old number “51” in purple type or would wear them at practice. He issued the statement after interim coach David Braun called it a free speech issue and said his focus was on supporting his players and staff rather than whether the shirts were tone deaf.
Three players expressed support for Fitzgerald and defended the culture of the program on Wednesday after the Wildcats’ first practice open to the media. It was the first time since the hazing allegations surfaced that Northwestern players were made available to reporters.
“The shirts were really just a reminder to allow us to stick together,” receiver Bryce Kirtz said.
Linebacker Bryce Gallagher echoed that, saying, “Just a reminder of us sticking together through this difficult time, just leaning on each other. We know the only people we need are the people in this facility.”
Northwestern is facing more than a dozen lawsuits across multiple sports with allegations including sexual abuse of players by teammates as well as racist comments
by coaches and racebased assaults. The cases span from 2004 to 2022, and attorneys representing some of the athletes who have already sued say more are coming.
Fitzgerald, who was fired after 17 seasons, has maintained he had no knowledge of hazing within his program.
Cougars AD unhappy
Washington State Athletic Director Pat Chun blasted the “poor leadership” that has led the Pac-12 to the brink of extinction and said the Cougars have earned the right to be part of a Power Five conference as the chances of that happening appeared unlikely.
Meanwhile, Pac-12 members California and Stanford have been looking for an escape hatch to a Power Five league, reaching out to officials with the Big Ten and its schools even as the Atlantic Coast Conference ponders building out a West Wing,
too.
Two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Cal and Stanford have been in contact with Big Ten officials and members of the conference in recent days, but the Big Ten has not so far been moved toward adding two more West Coast schools to go along with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, which are set to join in 2024.
The ACC has this week been discussing whether to invite Cal and Stanford, plus possibly Dallas-based SMU from the American Athletic Conference. But as of Wednesday night, it was unclear if ACC presidents were prepared to expand the 15school conference, which has no member farther west than Notre Dame.
“I think it’s been well documented that the last couple of weeks was a culmination of years of failed leadership, vision, failed implementation,” Chun said.
Notable
North Carolina’s governor is now asking the NCAA to grant an appeal seeking immediate eligibility for Tar Heels transfer receiver Devontez Walker.
In a statement, Gov. Roy Cooper says he sent a letter to the NCAA asking college sports’ governing organization “to reconsider” the decision to deny Walker’s waiver to play this year after transferring from Kent State.
“This is the first time I have taken such an action, but this is an unusual and compelling case amidst the backdrop of all the major changes happening in the NCAA,” the letter states.
Cooper is an alumnus of UNC, both as an undergraduate and for law school.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, who has spent the past 18 years at Ohio State leading one of the country’s largest and most successful athletic programs, said he will retire at the end of June next year.