The big guy always takes advantage of the small guy. It’s a tale as long as time when it comes to companies and brands.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg dropped some big news on Thursday that former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald will be a parent volunteer for Loyal Academy’s football team this upcoming season.
“Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald will be a parent volunteer this season with the football program at Loyola Academy, the suburban high school where his two younger sons attend,” Rittenberg said. “Like all volunteers, Fitzgerald went through training and background check before joining.”
It seems it wasn’t news that he actually broke, because h got it from somewhere else. The big problem here is that he never mentioned that anywhere else and made it seem like it came from him.
Joe Coughlin of The Record North Shore accused him of “bulldozing” local news outlets in order to report on Fitzgerald’s future.
“Story broke and reported by me and @TheRecordNS, which is where he got the lead,” he wrote on Twitter. “No mention of that or link to our story. The premier sports news outlet bulldozing in and bullying local news. Familiar story.”
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Adam has since apologized for his actions:
“Apologies to @TheRecordNS, which first reported Fitzgerald joining Loyola’s program as a volunteer,” Rittenberg wrote.
As for Fitzgerald, the former Northwestern football coach will help first-year coach Beau Desherow and coach one of his three children on the team. While going from the Big 10 to Illinois high school football is a major demotion, Loyola Academy boasts one of the best high school football programs in the state.
The team is the defending IHSA Class 8A state champions and has a 31-2 record over the last three seasons.
According to the report, Fitzgerald passed a background check, underwent training, and signed a code of conduct agreement in order to serve as a volunteer assistant coach at Loyola.
Fitzgerald starred at Northwestern in the mid-1990s and joined the Wildcats’ staff as an assistant coach in 2001. He was elevated to head coach and posted a 110-101 record in 17 seasons at the Big Ten school.
Since his dismissal, Northwestern installed defensive coordinator David Braun as interim coach.
The Wildcats open the season Sept. 3 at Rutgers.
