Recruits around the country will see what is possible at Northwestern when the 1995 Rose Bowl and Big Ten Championship team is honored at halftime of Saturday’s game against No. 14 Wisconsin.
But those who miss the game can always talk to NU recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach Pat Fitzgerald about having success as a Wildcat. Fitzgerald was the star linebacker on the ’95 squad and also was the first two-time winner of the Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik Awards as the nation’s top defensive player.
By using his experience as an NU student athlete, Fitzgerald has become the face of NU recruiting.
“He’s an All-American linebacker that was probably the best in his time,” said freshman running back Omar Conteh, one of Fitzgerald’s recruits from the last class. “But when he was talking to me, he was talking to me like a friend and a teammate. I was like, ‘Man, he’s legit, he’s serious about this school.'”
Fitzgerald made one year stops at Maryland, Colorado – under his NU coach Gary Barnett – and Idaho, before returning to Evanston as defensive backs coach in 2001.
After three years in that role, Fitzgerald moved to linebackers coach and became the Cats recruitng coordinator.
“He has some insight about the school, and I think that’s a good starting point in recruiting,” NU coach Randy Walker said. “The added feature is Fitz is from Chicago. By and large when we came here the bulk of our staff was from Ohio, and we know a lot about Ohio, but I still don’t know where I’m at for sure when I’m in Chicago.”
Fitzgerald said as recruiting coordinator he manages the day-to-day logistics of recruiting and makes sure the other coaches know where they need to go on their recruiting visits. He also is responsible for the actual recruiting of players from the South Side of Chicago, the Houston area, the Jacksonville, Fla., area, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, North and South Dakota and Canada.
This time last year, he was recruiting freshman quarterback Mike Kafka. Kafka said he knew from the beginning Fitzgerald enjoyed the recruiting process.
“The first time I met him, he was really energetic,” Kafka said. “He walked in and said, ‘What’s up guys,’ with a big hand shake. He was ready to get after it.”
Kafka said because Fitzgerald went to NU, he was able to tell recruits what it was like going to the school rather than just why they should go to NU.
Fitzgerald agreed attending and playing at NU helps him in recruiting, and he said he is able to give recruits a unique perspective on the program.
“When I’m recruiting someone, I can say, ‘Here’s what I was thinking when I was going through the recruiting process. Here’s why I chose Northwestern, here’s how we’re unique, here’s how you fit us and here’s how we fit you,'” Fitzgerald said. “I can pretty much tell them all of that as an expert, because being on both sides of the fence and being at some other institutions, I kind of have a feel of what they need to know.”
All coaches play a part in recruiting individuals, but Fitzgerald is charged with organizing the entire recruiting process. He said Walker is ultimately in charge of who NU offers scholarships to, but Fitzgerald helps get the information together so Walker can make the decisions.
Even with the extra work added to his role as assistant coach, Fitzgerald says he enjoys all aspects of his added responsibilities.
“I love everything about it,” he said. “I love getting in relationships with the kids. I love the competitive nature of it, the battles that you get into with other coaches and other schools. I absolutely love signing day, when we finally get (signees) and all the other stuff is over with.”
Conteh said it was evident how energetic Fitzgerald was about recruiting, which helped Conteh make the decision to come to NU.
“I saw his passion in what he said about the game and the school,” Conteh said. “Compared to the other schools, he was the best recruiter by far.”
Both Conteh and Kafka said the fact Fitzgerald was on a winning team and won awards as an individual made them listen to what he had to say.
“I like selling Northwestern,” he said. “I think we have a tremendous product, it’s one of the best academic institutions in the world. And then top it off with Chicago and Big Ten football.
“If that’s not something that excites you, we probably won’t recruit you.”
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
