It landed in my inbox at 12:19 p.m. CT:
Northwestern will have a new offensive coordinator next season. And despite what the Wildcat offense did against Illinois yesterday (resulting in what could be my favorite box score from a Northwestern game in quite some time), Pat Fitzgerald didn’t wait long to make his decision public.
Northwestern is moving on.
While this should be a move that helps Northwestern’s offense climb from the basement of college football, it also means the end of an integral part of Northwestern football fandom.
Just as Fitzgerald leans on blaming phones for his team’s poor performances or his home stadium’s lack of student attendance, Northwestern fandom has leaned on McCall for levity and humor over the past decade-plus.
We’ll miss you, Mick.
A programming note: This week’s 📵Blame the Phones will hit your inbox on Wednesday morning. I’d like to be able to write about the Northwestern men’s basketball team’s game against Boston College on Tuesday night.
Also, if you have BTN+, tune in to see the undefeated women’s basketball team take on No. 16 DePaul at 2 p.m. CT. Or, if you can get to Welsh-Ryan Arena in 30 minutes, catch the game in person.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. I’d love to hear them.
Until next time,
Josh Rosenblat
P.S. If you have a friend that you think would enjoy this, forward this email to them or send them to blamethephones.substack.com. Thanks!