FILE - Former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the university settled his lawsuit for wrongful dismissal. Terms were not disclosed. AP

TWO DAYS AFTER PAT FITZGERALD was abruptly fired as head football coach at Northwestern in July 2023, a Midwestern newspaper bannered the following column headline:

“A minority of one — without more complete facts, Pat Fitzgerald is being railroaded.”

It was predicated upon two compelling benchmarks:

· The presumption of innocence until proven guilty; and,

· A doctoral-level study of Fitzgerald, the coach and the man, afforded during three seasons (2007-09) covering Wildcats football for the Chicago Sun-Times.

ALONE AMONG HIGH-TIER NATIONAL MEDIA, only Pete Thamel, a senior writer for ESPN, held his ground against the stampeding herd that i

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