Pat Fitzgerald filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Northwestern University on Thursday following the school's decision to fire him from his position as head football coach in July.
According to Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press, attorneys Dan K. Webb and Matthew R. Carter announced Thursday that Fitzgerald is seeking $130 million. That number includes $68 million in owed salary and $62 million in future lost income.
Fitzgerald is suing for "infliction of emotional distress" and punitive damages as well.
Northwestern suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks in July following an investigation into hazing allegations within the football program and other athletic programs at the school.
While the investigation did not yield "sufficient" evidence to determine that Fitzgerald and the coaching staff knew about the hazing, it was concluded that they had "significant opportunities" to find out.
Just days after the suspension, Fitzgerald was fired in the wake of an article published by Northwestern's student newspaper, which delved deeper into the allegations.
Northwestern president Michael Schill said hazing was "widespread" and not a secret within the football program, and multiple current and former Northwestern football players said hazing continued to take place during the six-month investigation.
Per Seligman, Northwestern also fired baseball coach Jim Foster, and the school is now facing more than a dozen lawsuits that include allegations of sexual abuse by players against teammates and the use of racist language by coaches across multiple sports.
Despite the allegations that have been made, Webb insisted that Fitzgerald did not deserve to be fired, saying: "If there was ever a coach at Northwestern University who should have not been terminated, it's Coach Fitzgerald."
The 48-year-old Fitzgerald was a linebacker at Northwestern from 1993 to 1996, and he first joined the Northwestern coaching staff in 2001 as a defensive backs coach.
After stints as a linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator, Fitzgerald was elevated to the head coach position at his alma mater in 2006.
In his 17 seasons as the Wildcats' head coach, Fitzgerald posted a 110-101 record, won two Big Ten division titles and coached in 10 bowl games.
After going 7-2 and winning the division in 2020, Northwestern dipped to 3-9 in 2021 and 1-11 in 2022, the latter of which was the team's worst performance during Fitzgerald's tenure.
Following Fitzgerald's firing, defensive coordinator David Braun was named interim head coach. He has the Wildcats off to a 2-3 start this season.
