Pat Fitzgerald, 32, is the current head coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats football team. He was 31 at the time of his appointment in 2006, making him the youngest coach in the Big Ten Conference and in NCAA Division I-A football by five years.
After graduating from Sandburg High School, Fitzgerald starred at Linebacker for the Northwestern Wildcats in the mid-1990's, helping to lead the team to the 1996 Rose Bowl. Fitzgerald also led the Wildcats to the 1997 Citrus Bowl.
Fitzgerald was twice named Big Ten defensive player of the year and won both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award in 1995 and then again in 1996, becoming the first two-time winner of both honors.
After graduation, Fitzgerald briefly played with the Dallas Cowboys but decided that coaching was his calling. He joined the coaching staff at the University of Maryland in 1998, then moved on to Colorado under his former Northwestern coach, Gary Barnett. He took a job at the University of Idaho before returning to Northwestern, where he served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator until his promotion to head coach.