Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune has a nice piece on Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald. The tidbits about how far Michigan actually went to attempt to hire him were interesting:

Until now, it has been reported that Michigan merely made a third-party inquiry to Fitzgerald.

The reality is that Michigan’s interest in Fitzgerald was so sincere, representatives of the school laid out salary parameters, according to sources.

As a (semi) Northwestern fan and Chicagolandian I am very familiar with Fitzgerald. As a Michigan fan, there is no one I would have rather had¹. But I have long said Fitzgerald will never leave NU. He is from Chicago, he went to NU and he can coach there forever², so why would he leave?

If he can’t be a coach at my favorite school, staying at my 2nd favorite school until he retires is fine with me.

(via Adam Rittenburg)

1. That includes Jim Harbaugh [↩]
2. Expectations as so low and everyone there is so apathetic about football that he will never be fired [↩]