51 Days Until the College Football Season Kick Off

Linebacker time.

Yesterday we highlighted a dominant offensive lineman from Stanford but for today on day 51 of the countdown we’ll be looking at a hard nosed and gritty linebacker that coaches for his BIG 10 alma mater.

Pat Fitzgerald was an absolute freak of nature linebacker for Northwestern from 1993 to 1996. He was recruited out of Orlando Park, Illinois and stayed in the state to play for the Northwestern Wildcats.

Fitz was an absolute stud that averaged ten plus tackles per game at Northwestern. He brought out the blue collar play style for the Wildcats as he led them to wins over teams they hadn’t defeated in over ten years like Notre Dame and Michigan in 1995.

His career is littered with accolades that are all well deserved. He was an All American in 1995 and 1996, two time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996, two time Bednarik Award winner in 1995 and 1996, and two time Nagurski Trophy winner in 1995 and 1996. An absolutely insane career.

Fitzgerald was not drafted out of college and only played two preseason games with the Dallas Cowboys.

After a few years at other universities from 1998-2000, Fitzgerald returned to Northwestern to coach the defensive backs. He moved around on the staff from 2001 to 2005 before getting the head coaching job in 2006. He currently holds a record of 106-81.

For tomorrows countdown, we finish up the fifties and highlight the very last offensive lineman of the countdown. Pretty sad.