Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald agrees to 10-year contract

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Northwestern Wildcats head football coach Pat Fitzgerald has agreed to a new 10-year contract that will keep him at the school through the 2030 season.

Fitzgerald, a former linebacker at Northwestern who won national Defensive Player of the Year honors twice, is the winningest coach in program history with a 106-81 record across 15 seasons.

Since 2015, Fitzgerald has guided the Wildcats to two 10-win seasons. Northwestern also has won four consecutive bowl games and claimed two Big Ten West Division titles in the past five years.

The 46-year-old Fitzgerald was named Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2020 and earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 2018.

"From the moment I stepped on campus as an undergraduate, I have believed this is the finest university in the country, with the potential to offer an unmatched student-athlete experience," Fitzgerald said in a statement Wednesday. "Stacy, Jack, Ryan, Brendan and I have always been grateful to call Northwestern our home, and be part of the Wildcats family.

"... We have built the foundation to compete for championships in tandem with the best academic and personal development opportunity anywhere in college football. We all have a lot to be proud of, but our best is yet to come."

Fitzgerald returned to Northwestern as an assistant in 2001. He coached defensive backs and linebackers from 2001-05, then became head coach shortly after Randy Walker died suddenly in June 2006.

Under Fitzgerald, the Wildcats have earned 10 bowl appearances. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.