Despite loss, Pat Fitzgerald should be at Northwestern for life

"He played absolutely incredible," Fitzgerald said. "That's what senior quarterbacks do in their last game. They step up."

Phillips, who came to Northwestern from Northern Illinois in April, said he knows what he has in Fitzgerald.

"He understands the place better than anyone," Phillips said. "I've had the chance to be around some good coaches. I was at the University of Tennessee and I saw Pat Summitt when I was getting my Ph.D. I was at Notre Dame, and I saw some of the good coaches there. Joe Novak did a resurrection job beyond belief at Northern Illinois.

"So when I look at some really good coaches that I've been able to be around and learn from, he's got all those kinds of qualities."

When Phillips talks about Fitzgerald understanding Northwestern, he's talking about his coach's understanding of the challenges and opportunities at the school. It's easier to understand the type of person an academically demanding school wants when you went there.

Fitzgerald thinks purple is a fashion statement. He was a two-time All-America linebacker at NU. He played in the Rose Bowl in 1995. He was an assistant coach at NU for five years before becoming head coach after Randy Walker died.

He recently was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, so any high school player considering Northwestern has an idea of what's possible at the school by looking at him.

NU hasn't won a bowl game since winning the 1949 Rose Bowl.

"We're going to get over the mountaintop and get the job done," Fitzgerald said.

Right now, the marriage between the school and its coach is perfect. He and Northwestern could be Joe Paterno and Penn State. The divorce rate in college football is ridiculously high, and there are many factors that could tear them apart.

But Coach for Life Fitzgerald - it has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

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(c) 2008, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.