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Green Bay Packers Still Hoping To Interview Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald

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David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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The Green Bay Packers haven’t given up hope on interviewing Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald just yet.

Fitzgerald’s name has been tied to the Packers head coach opening for some time now, but the outstanding young coach appeared to throw cold water on the rumors following the Wildcats win in the Holiday Bowl. He declared that Northwestern would be “home forever” after the big win over Utah. Yet, the Packers still think they will be able to interview him. (RELATED: Northwestern Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald Says He’s Not Leaving)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the following after Fitzgerald’s proclamation:

Despite Pat Fitzgerald’s public comments that he’s staying at Northwestern, the Green Bay Packers are still hopeful they can speak with the Wildcats coach this week.

Convincing him to leave his alma mater, however, will be tough.

It would seem unlikely Fitzgerald would interview if he weren’t considered a front-runner. The Packers have interviews set up with multiple NFL assistants and Fitzgerald probably isn’t going to sit around very long waiting for them to finish.

The Packers must really love Fitzgerald to be gunning for him, despite the fact he told the whole country he isn’t going anywhere.

As I’ve said before, Fitzgerald is an outstanding coach, and there’s no doubt about it. He has taken recruits most schools never even took a look at, and he turned Northwestern into an extremely competitive program with them.

I’m honestly not sure if there’s another coach in the country that could win at the level he has with the same talent. There might not be a single starter at Northwestern capable of starting for Alabama or Ohio State, and they still managed to win 41 games over the past five years.

Would his skills translate well over to the NFL? I have no idea, but he’s going to get plenty of offers because of what he’s been able to accomplish at Northwestern.

The only question is whether or not he will take them. It sounds like he’s very content staying with the Wildcats.

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