Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr. (born December 2, 1974) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats football program, until his 2023 termination in the aftermath of a hazing scandal.He was originally promoted to the position following the sudden passing of head coach Randy Walker prior to the 2006 season. When he was promoted to the position, he was 31 at the time, making him the youngest head football coach in the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Division I FBS by five years. Fitzgerald would go on to become the longest-tenured head coach in Northwestern football history and entering the 2022 season is the fifth longest-tenured head coach in Division I FBS. As a linebacker for Northwestern from 1993 to 1996, he won both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award twice as the best defensive player in college football. He was awarded a Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1997 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.