Pat Fitzgerald
Pat Fitzgerald went 112–106 as a head coach, 2006–2026, at Northwestern and Michigan State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 2–4); by them his record is 112–105. Share
- Record
- 112–106 career
- Seasons
- 18
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Dec 2, 1974
- Alma mater
- Northwestern 1997
- Best season
- 2020 7–2, No. 10
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Northwestern | 4–8 | T–8th | |||
| 2007 | Northwestern | 6–6 | T–7th | |||
| 2008 | Northwestern | 9–4 | T–4th | Alamo Bowl L | ||
| 2009 | Northwestern | 8–5 | T–4th | Outback Bowl L | ||
| 2010 | Northwestern | 7–6 | T–7th | TicketCity Bowl L | ||
| 2011 | Northwestern | 6–7 | 5th (Legends) | Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas L | ||
| 2012 | Northwestern | 10–3 | 3rd (Legends) | Gator Bowl W | 17 | |
| 2013 | Northwestern | 5–7 | 6th (Legends) | |||
| 2014 | Northwestern | 5–7 | 6th (West) | |||
| 2015 | Northwestern | 10–3 | T–2nd (West) | Outback Bowl L | 23 | |
| 2016 | Northwestern | 7–6 | T–4th (West) | Pinstripe Bowl W | ||
| 2017 | Northwestern | 10–3 | 2nd (West) | Music City Bowl W | 17 | |
| 2018 | Northwestern | 9–5 | 1st (West) | Holiday Bowl W | 19 | |
| 2019 | Northwestern | 3–9 | 7th (West) | |||
| 2020 | Northwestern | 7–2 | 1st (West) | Citrus Bowl W | 10 | |
| 2021 | Northwestern | 3–9 | T–6th (West) | |||
| 2022 | Northwestern | 1–11 | 7th (West) | |||
| 2023–25: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2026 | Michigan State | 2–5 (Wikipedia: 2–4) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 54 | 15–39 | 28% |
| Against top-10 teams | 21 | 3–18 | 14% |
| Against rivals | 30 | 13–17 | 43% |
| Conference games | 145 | 65–80 | 45% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 10 | 5–5 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 86 | 49–37 | 57% |
| At home | 115 | 62–53 | 54% |
| On the road | 87 | 43–44 | 49% |
| At neutral sites | 16 | 7–9 | 44% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 105 | 76–29 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 113 | 36–77 | 32% |
His own 218 games on file, 2006–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirk Ferentz 2006–2022 | 9–8 | Iowa | 17 | |
| Mark Dantonio 2007–2019 | 5–6 | Michigan State | 11 | |
| P.J. Fleck 2013–2022 | 3–4 | Western Michigan, Minnesota | 7 | |
| Paul Chryst 2015–2021 | 3–4 | Wisconsin | 7 | |
| Ron Zook 2006–2011 | 3–3 | Illinois | 6 | |
| David Cutcliffe 2008–2021 | 3–3 | Duke | 6 | |
| Jeff Brohm 2017–2022 | 3–3 | Purdue | 6 | |
| Bret Bielema 2006–2026 | 1–5 | Wisconsin, Illinois | 6 | |
| Lovie Smith 2016–2020 | 5–0 | Illinois | 5 | |
| Jerry Kill 2011–2015 | 3–2 | Minnesota | 5 |
Pat Fitzgerald’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Illinoisseries | 18 | 11–7 |
| Iowaseries | 17 | 9–8 |
| Minnesotaseries | 15 | 8–7 |
| Purdueseries | 14 | 8–6 |
| Michigan Stateseries | 14 | 5–9 |
| Wisconsinseries | 14 | 5–9 |
| Nebraskaseries | 13 | 6–7 |
| Michiganseries | 10 | 1–9 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2020 Northwestern: Bobby Dodd Award
Other roles
- Team captain, Northwestern 1996 (his playing career)
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Maryland | Graduate assistant | |
| 1999 | Colorado | Graduate assistant | |
| 2000 | Idaho | Linebackers and safeties coach | |
| 2001 | Northwestern | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2002–03 | Northwestern | Linebackers coach | |
| 2004–05 | Northwestern | Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2006–22 | Northwestern | Head coach | |
| 2023–25 | Loyola Academy (IL) high school | Volunteer assistant | |
| 2026–present | Michigan State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Ron VanderlindenMaryland
- Gary BarnettColorado
- Tom CableIdaho
- Randy WalkerNorthwestern
Assistants who became head coaches
- Garrick McGeeUAB
- Greg ColbyMillersville
- Mike HankwitzArizona, Colorado
- Jeff GenykEastern Michigan
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Vanderlinden | Maryland | 1998 | Graduate assistant | |
| Gary Barnett | Colorado | 1999 | Graduate assistant | |
| Tom Cable | Idaho | 2000 | Linebackers and safeties coach | |
| Randy Walker | Northwestern | 2001–05 | 2001: defensive backs coach; 2002–03: linebackers coach; 2004–05: linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (4)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garrick McGee | Northwestern, 2006–07: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UAB | |
| Greg Colby | Northwestern, 2006–07: defensive coordinator | Millersville | |
| Mike Hankwitz | Northwestern, 2008–20: defensive coordinator | Arizona, Colorado | |
| Jeff Genyk | Northwestern, 2015: quality control coach; 2018–21: special teams coach; 2022: special teams and tight ends coach | Eastern Michigan |
Other assistants under him (13)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bret Ingalls | Northwestern, 2006–08: offensive line coach | |
| Kevin Johns | Northwestern, 2006–07: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2008–10: wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator | |
| Randy Bates | Northwestern, 2006–17: linebackers coach | |
| Mick McCall | Northwestern, 2008–19: offensive coordinator | |
| Tim McGarigle | Northwestern, 2011: graduate assistant; 2018–22: linebackers coach | |
| Tim Tibesar | Northwestern, 2014: defensive consultant | |
| Tommy Rees | Northwestern, 2015: graduate assistant | |
| Mike Bajakian | Northwestern, 2020–22: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jim O’Neil | Northwestern, 2021–22: defensive coordinator | |
| Joe Rossi | Michigan State, 2026: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| John McNulty | Michigan State, 2026: quarterbacks coach | |
| Max Bullough | Michigan State, 2026: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Nick Sheridan | Michigan State, 2026: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Fitzgerald’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 38% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 48% of plays and took 23.6 seconds a play, 2006–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 12 g | Northwestern | 11 of 90 12% | 16% | 47% | 27.2 | −0.20 | |
| 2007 12 g | Northwestern | 18 of 88 20% | 34% | 60% | 22.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2008 13 g | Northwestern | 7 of 99 7% | 13% | 50% | 22.9 | −0.07 | |
| 2009 13 g | Northwestern | 23 of 111 21% | 39% | 54% | 22.1 | −0.02 | |
| 2010 11 g | Northwestern | 10 of 80 13% | 27% | 45% | 22.4 | 0.00 | |
| 2011 11 g | Northwestern | 22 of 76 29% | 48% | 45% | 23.6 | +0.05 | |
| 2012 13 g | Northwestern | 15 of 97 15% | 28% | 40% | 22.8 | +0.01 | |
| 2013 12 g | Northwestern | 10 of 104 10% | 15% | 45% | 22.8 | +0.02 | |
| 2014 12 g | Northwestern | 27 of 114 24% | 40% | 52% | 22.3 | −0.09 | |
| 2015 13 g | Northwestern | 11 of 123 9% | 19% | 40% | 22.9 | −0.14 | |
| 2016 13 g | Northwestern | 32 of 118 27% | 52% | 54% | 22.2 | −0.01 | |
| 2017 13 g | Northwestern | 40 of 125 32% | 53% | 50% | 23.9 | +0.02 | |
| 2018 14 g | Northwestern | 32 of 126 25% | 44% | 54% | 23.8 | −0.08 | |
| 2019 12 g | Northwestern | 28 of 112 25% | 39% | 40% | 25.2 | −0.15 | |
| 2020 9 g | Northwestern | 26 of 81 32% | 57% | 44% | 24.6 | −0.05 | |
| 2021 12 g | Northwestern | 32 of 109 29% | 53% | 48% | 24.4 | −0.07 | |
| 2022 12 g | Northwestern | 33 of 100 33% | 47% | 49% | 23.2 | −0.11 | |
| 2026 7 g | Michigan State | 19 of 50 38% | 65% | 48% | 27.3 | −0.01 | |
| All 214 g | 396 of 1803 22% | 38% | 48% | 23.6 | −0.05 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.