The Northwestern Wildcats fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday night after alleged hazing and reports of racism within the football program. A season ago, the Wisconsin Badgers Big Ten West foe had a 1-11 overall record and a 1-8 Big Ten Conference record.
In the meantime, Northwestern will have an interim head coach of defensive coordinator David Braun and they will begin to search for a new head coach.
There have been names that are floating around for the Wisconsin Badgers Big Ten rival. The Wildcats have had a good football program every now and then under Pat Fitzgerald, but they will be looking for a new leader for the long-term future. The question is, who are some of the candidates that could potentially take over as the new head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats?
Badgers Rival Northwestern Wildcats Looking For Head Coach
Brian Hartline
Brian Hartline is the wide receivers coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He has done a tremendous job of recruiting top talented wide receivers to Ohio State and it is one of the best wide receiver rooms in the entire country. They are getting drafted very high in the NFL Draft year after year.
Players love him. Hartline was a player in the NFL and he knows what it takes to get there. Northwestern Wildcats players would love him and he knows the Big Ten already, so it wouldn’t be a stranger to him.
Mike Kafka
Mike Kafka is currently the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants. He was a quarterback at Northwestern and is an alum of the school. Kafka was an average quarterback, but he has a very bright offensive mind.
The Northwestern Wildcats can consider him all they want, but Kafka is potentially ready to become a head coach for an NFL franchise sooner rather than later, especially if things go well with the New York Giants. Mike Kafka is a nice thought for the program, but it feels like a long shot.
Willie Fritz
Willie Fritz is currently the head coach of the Tulane Wave. If Tulane has another solid season after winning the Cotton Bowl a season ago against the USC Trojans, Fritz might be making a move up to the Power 5 Conferences. The Wave has a lot of academic similarities to the Northwestern Wildcats.
Fritz has changed football programs wherever he has gone. The Wisconsin Badgers foe would be getting a good football head coach if the Northwestern Wildcats decided to hire David Fritz. It would be interesting to see him with this football program out of the other names mentioned.
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