Quote:Matt Battaglia also had a close call with Northwestern that could have soured more bitter men. Battaglia assisted at several high schools in the state after playing guard at Northern Illinois from 2009-13. In January 2018, Kent State coach Sean Lewis hired Battaglia as a grad assistant. Months later, Northwestern called and asked him to interview for a similar role. Battaglia didn’t get the job but learned so much in his two years under Lewis that he ended up becoming the head coach at Fenwick High in Oak Park after the 2019 season. One of the first people to visit Fenwick upon Battaglia’s hiring was Matt MacPherson, the Northwestern defensive backs coach.

Battaglia’s early coaching career in college and high school has taught him one thing: Northwestern means what it says. The school does its homework on every potential prospect. Only Fitzgerald, the head coach, offers scholarships on the program’s behalf, a rarity at the FBS level.

Quote:When Jordan Lynch was hired as Mount Carmel’s coach after the 2017 season, Fitzgerald was one of the first people to call and congratulate him. He promised the former Northern Illinois Heisman finalist that Northwestern’s doors would always be open to him and his staff.

As important, he regularly sends Lynch reading material to keep his mind fresh. Earlier this season, with Northwestern playing football while the state high schools were not, Fitzgerald texted Lynch to see how he was holding up, encouraging the young coach that brighter days were ahead for the sport and that he would need to have his players ready.

“The thing that makes him so special is he remembers everybody he meets,” Lynch said. “He knew our athletic secretary, Sue Doheny, by name. He’s on a first-name basis with Pete Kammholz, who works security here. For a guy like that who is meeting thousands of people, it says a lot about his character.”

(12-16-2020 10:24 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  https://theathletic.com/2263748/2020/12/...ecruiting/

Quote:Matt Battaglia also had a close call with Northwestern that could have soured more bitter men. Battaglia assisted at several high schools in the state after playing guard at Northern Illinois from 2009-13. In January 2018, Kent State coach Sean Lewis hired Battaglia as a grad assistant. Months later, Northwestern called and asked him to interview for a similar role. Battaglia didn’t get the job but learned so much in his two years under Lewis that he ended up becoming the head coach at Fenwick High in Oak Park after the 2019 season. One of the first people to visit Fenwick upon Battaglia’s hiring was Matt MacPherson, the Northwestern defensive backs coach.

Battaglia’s early coaching career in college and high school has taught him one thing: Northwestern means what it says. The school does its homework on every potential prospect. Only Fitzgerald, the head coach, offers scholarships on the program’s behalf, a rarity at the FBS level.

Quote:When Jordan Lynch was hired as Mount Carmel’s coach after the 2017 season, Fitzgerald was one of the first people to call and congratulate him. He promised the former Northern Illinois Heisman finalist that Northwestern’s doors would always be open to him and his staff.

As important, he regularly sends Lynch reading material to keep his mind fresh. Earlier this season, with Northwestern playing football while the state high schools were not, Fitzgerald texted Lynch to see how he was holding up, encouraging the young coach that brighter days were ahead for the sport and that he would need to have his players ready.

“The thing that makes him so special is he remembers everybody he meets,” Lynch said. “He knew our athletic secretary, Sue Doheny, by name. He’s on a first-name basis with Pete Kammholz, who works security here. For a guy like that who is meeting thousands of people, it says a lot about his character.”

(12-16-2020 10:24 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  https://theathletic.com/2263748/2020/12/...ecruiting/

Quote:Matt Battaglia also had a close call with Northwestern that could have soured more bitter men. Battaglia assisted at several high schools in the state after playing guard at Northern Illinois from 2009-13. In January 2018, Kent State coach Sean Lewis hired Battaglia as a grad assistant. Months later, Northwestern called and asked him to interview for a similar role. Battaglia didn’t get the job but learned so much in his two years under Lewis that he ended up becoming the head coach at Fenwick High in Oak Park after the 2019 season. One of the first people to visit Fenwick upon Battaglia’s hiring was Matt MacPherson, the Northwestern defensive backs coach.

Battaglia’s early coaching career in college and high school has taught him one thing: Northwestern means what it says. The school does its homework on every potential prospect. Only Fitzgerald, the head coach, offers scholarships on the program’s behalf, a rarity at the FBS level.

Quote:When Jordan Lynch was hired as Mount Carmel’s coach after the 2017 season, Fitzgerald was one of the first people to call and congratulate him. He promised the former Northern Illinois Heisman finalist that Northwestern’s doors would always be open to him and his staff.

As important, he regularly sends Lynch reading material to keep his mind fresh. Earlier this season, with Northwestern playing football while the state high schools were not, Fitzgerald texted Lynch to see how he was holding up, encouraging the young coach that brighter days were ahead for the sport and that he would need to have his players ready.

“The thing that makes him so special is he remembers everybody he meets,” Lynch said. “He knew our athletic secretary, Sue Doheny, by name. He’s on a first-name basis with Pete Kammholz, who works security here. For a guy like that who is meeting thousands of people, it says a lot about his character.”