University tax returns reveal pay raise for Fitzgerald in 2014

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald surveys the field during Northwestern’s 41-0 win over Eastern Illinois last September. University tax returns show a rise in Fitzgerald’s salary.

Max Schuman, Assistant Summer Editor

Northwestern’s 2014 tax returns show that football coach Pat Fitzgerald received more than $3.35 million in total compensation from the University that year, a raise of more than $800,000 over the previous year, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Fitzgerald received roughly $1.1 million more in base pay than he did in 2013. His salary went from less than $2 million to greater than $3 million, and there was no reported bonus payment from the University after he received roughly $200,000 in bonus payment in the previous year. Fitzgerald signed a 10-year extension in 2011.

As a nonprofit organization, the University is required to file tax returns each year that disclose the compensation paid to many administration and staff members. The complexity of these returns generally lead to extensions that result in delays in their release relative to the time periods they cover.

In addition to Fitzgerald, athletic director Jim Phillips was credited with roughly $1.1 million in payment in the returns, while men’s basketball coach Chris Collins received $1.3 million in 2014, his first full calendar year as coach after being hired in 2013.

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