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Barnett says Fitzgerald ready despite his youth

Northwestern's new coach played, worked for former CU coach

B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 25, 2006 at midnight

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Rather than impressing college recruiters with blurring speed and boundless athleticism, Pat Fitzgerald made his mark at Carl Sandburg High School in the southwest Chicago suburb of Orland, Ill., with a heads-up, hands-on, instinctive style of football.

One of the recruiters sizing up Fitzgerald in the early 1990s was then-Northwestern coach Gary Barnett, who only minutes before a home visit with a prospect in Louisville, Ky., received a telephone message from one of his assistants saying Fitzgerald had just called and was ready to commit to the Wildcats.

Barnett's dilemma as he sat in a rental car on a Louisville side street: Follow through in the out-of-state prospect's den and obtain a commitment or stay local and accept Fitzgerald's pledge.

Barnett opted for the latter, changing the course of history for Fitzgerald and Northwestern football on several fronts.

After starring for Barnett at linebacker in the Wildcats' miraculous mid-1990s turnaround, Fitzgerald, at the eyebrow-raising age of 31, earlier this month was hired as his alma mater's coach after the death of Randy Walker.

In becoming the youngest coach in Division I-A, Fitzgerald accepted a promotion he termed "bittersweet. . . . It's a dream of mine to be a head football coach here, but not under these circumstances.

"This wasn't in the plan. But I have a call to duty and the coaching staff has a call to duty and the players have a call to duty to continue the legacy that Randy built."

Barnett believes Fitzgerald, a graduate assistant for one season (1999) during Barnett's tenure with the University of Colorado, is up to the challenge.

So does Vince Okruch, Northwestern's defensive coordinator when Fitzgerald won the Chuck Bednarik and Bronco Nagurski awards as the nation's top defensive player in 1995 and 1996.

During his introductory news conference, Fitzgerald answered questions about his youth and inexperience with "age is just a number."

"If Pat's too young, then Joe Pa's (Penn State coach Joe Paterno's) too old. . . . Pat's going to make some mistakes, but in this business, who doesn't?" said Okruch, now Illinois' defensive coordinator after spending the past two seasons with Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe after his dismissal by Barnett in 2003.

In the days after Walker's fatal heart attack June 29, Barnett, fired by CU in December, and Okruch served as sounding boards for the grieving Fitzgerald, who was hired by Walker as a Northwestern assistant in 2001 and already was his boss' choice to succeed him when Walker's contract expired in 2012.

Such was the impact Fitzgerald made once he entered coaching.

"All of us saw coaching in him," Barnett said, adding Fitzgerald's strong suit is relating to players with an honest, loyal and straightforward approach, coupled with a work ethic that easily cultivates respect.

When Fitzgerald joined the staff at CU, Okruch said most of the full-time assistants saw "a guy who was destined to coach. But as for being a head coach, a lot of that boils down to an individual and his personal preferences. The time away from the X's and O's can be frustrating.

"The logical progression (for Fitzgerald) would have been to be a I-A coordinator, then, if the opportunity presented itself, become a head coach. But 'Fitzy' didn't have that luxury.

"I just told him, 'It's your candy store; decide what kind of candy

you're going to sell.' In other words, do it your way. He'll stay true to his beliefs, and if they work, that's super. If not, he's mature enough and prepared to take the consequences.

"But in my heart, I think he'll make it work."

Barnett advised to have a plan that lends comfort to team and staff, then stick with it.

"I told him if he said he was going to do something, then do it - no matter what it is," Barnett said.

In an interesting regular-season finale for Fitzgerald and Okruch, Illinois plays Nov. 18 at Northwestern.

Already, Okruch expects Northwestern, 7-5 last season after a 50-38 Sun Bowl loss against UCLA, to play as passionately as those Wildcats teams featuring Fitzgerald a decade ago.

"He was ultracompetitive," Okruch said. "You always hear the term 'coach on the field' used, but he definitely was. He could come to the sideline after the first series and say, 'They ain't doing what we expected' - and you'd better listen.

"His No. 1 characteristic is people trust him. I trusted him as a player and a grad assistant, and I'd trust him as a head coach. There are a lot of snakes in the world, but he's not one of them. That'll serve him well over time."

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