Pat Fitzgerald Inks Decade-Long Deal To Stay At Northwestern

Northwestern and head football coach Pat Fitzgerald have agreed to a 10-year deal through the 2030 season, according to Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel.

He's already been with the team for 16 seasons (6th-longest in FBS), and the 46-year-old coach clearly had no intentions of leaving. However, this is still a big time relief for Northwestern who reportedly feared losing him to the NFL.

Fitzgerald is currently 5-5 in bowl games, but a strong 2020 that ended with a Citrus Bowl victory over Auburn likely led to this contract.

Here's his full career at Northwestern:

It probably helps that Jon Gruden's 10-year deal started looking better of late and took the stigma away from those "Godfather" deals. Any contract for a decade is a massive investment, so we hope it all works out.

Also, just yesterday, Fitzgerald won the Stallings Award for being "an exceptional human." Sounds like a coach who can rally young recruits, if you ask us.

Congratulations to Coach Pat Fitzgerald.