Just three days after Northwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald due to a hazing scandal, the school has also fired baseball coach Jim Foster amid allegations of misconduct.
Foster had only spent one season as the team's head coach. Former Chicago White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson, who served as an assistant on Foster's staff, has been named as Northwestern's interim head coach.
"Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level, and building a culture which allows our staff to thrive," Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg said in a statement.
"This has been an ongoing situation and many factors were considered before reaching this resolution. As the director of athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold."
According to the Chicago Tribune and WSCR-AM, Foster created a toxic culture in which he bullied and verbally abused players. The university ended up launching a human resources investigation into Foster and the program. CBS Chicago also reported that multiple assistant coaches left the program in addition to at least 15 players entering the transfer portal.
During his lone season with the Wildcats, Foster led the team to a 10-40 record.
On Tuesday, Northwestern fired Fitzgerald, who spent 17 seasons as the Wildcats head coach, after the school learned about allegations of hazing by 11 current and former players. Those allegations included "forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature," according to Northwestern president Michael Schill.
Throughout the investigation, Fitzgerald stated that he wasn't aware of any hazing within the program. Fitzgerald was initially suspended for two weeks without pay prior to his firing.
