Author’s note: For this piece, I spoke to three lawyers with experience in negotiating college coaching contracts. Two asked to remain anonymous out of caution that they could be used as expert witnesses in a potential trial. The third is Attorney Martin J. Greenberg, who negotiated former Northwestern head coach Randy Walker’s contract.
Shortly after being fired on July 10, former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald announced in a statement that he hired Dan Webb from Winston and Strawn LLP to “take the necessary steps to protect [his] rights in accordance with the law.”
In the weeks since, Fitzgerald has been named a defendant in a lawsuit by a former student-athlete who says Fitzgerald was negligent in allowing hazing to occur.