Happy Friday, everyone! We’re ONE DAY away from College Football season officially kicking off!
As the week wraps up, there are a few nuggets of news to get to. Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern’s legal battle is officially over, so what’s next for the former Wildcats head coach? Plus, the SEC made some significant changes to their schedule requirements. How will that affect the playoffs in the future?
Let’s get to all that and more in Friday’s Big Ten bullets.
Big Ten Bullets
On Thursday, Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern settled their lawsuit dating back to Fitzgerald’s dismissal a little over two years ago. We covered that a bit yesterday, but in the statements from both the school and Fitzgerald, the findings from discovery seemed to, for the most part, clear the former head coach of any wrongdoing. Now that Fitz is in the clear, what’s next for his coaching career? ESPN’s Pete Thamel discussed that on College Football Live following the settlement. In Pete Thamel’s hit, he mentions that Fitzgerald and his agent have expressed the former coach’s interest in returning to the sidelines. Thamel also notes that he thinks there will be a reasonably high demand for Fitzgerald now that he looks essentially in the clear, and that teams could start considering him this fall.What’s next for Pat Fitzgerald? A return to the sidelines appears likely. From College Football Live today: pic.twitter.com/KPUSpcAb0M
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 21, 2025 Now, at this point, everyone is set with their head coaching openings. But as of late, especially with the transfer portal always lingering, teams are more willing to part ways with a head coach earlier than later if things go south quickly in a season. Just a few years ago, Luke Fickell was hired following Thanksgiving after firing Paul Chryst in early October. With a coach of Fitzgerald’s stature on the market, teams might be willing to make a move early to have him locked up and ready to go for the offseason. There has been some speculation that Iowa could be a destination for Pat Fitzgerald in the meantime, in a potential analyst role. He knows the Big Ten well, and his son (who he coached at Loyola the past two years) is a freshman on the Hawkeyes football team. So, who knows where Fitzgerald will end up, but it does seem like by this time next year, there’s a good chance he’ll be on a sideline again. It appears that after several years of taking shots for easy non-conference scheduling, the SEC is trying to change the narrative. On Thursday, the SEC announced that in 2026, it would be playing a nine-game conference schedule (as opposed to the eight its teams have been playing), and require teams to annually schedule at least one “high-quality” non-conference game against a Power 4 opponent or Notre Dame. The move came on the heels of the College Football Playoff committee altering its selection criteria to reward teams that play tougher schedules. This will likely end up affecting playoff expansion as well, whenever it does expand (it sure feels like a “when”, not an “if”). Previously, the Big Ten opposed the 5+11 model (five highest-ranked conference champions +11 at-large teams) as long as the SEC and ACC were not playing the same number of conference games. Now that the SEC has adapted, would that hurt the Big Ten’s leverage in their argument against it? There’s still a lot to unfold from this, but the SEC’s new scheduling policy is undoubtedly a win for college football fans. This next story isn’t exactly a massive one, but I did find it interesting. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, who’s 12-13 in two seasons with the Huskers, is launching his own podcast! Here’s how Rhule described the new show in his intro for Episode 1 of “House Rhules”: “I know what you’re thinking – why are we doing this? Why are we taking the time to give an inside look to each and every one of you to all the great things happening here at the University of Nebraska? Man, we’re so proud of what we’re doing with our players, what we’re doing with this program, and we want to give you an inside look behind the scenes, behind the curtain at a college football program. We want to talk about all the things that matter to you – college football, pop culture, young people. You know, I’ve been hired and fired in my life. I’ve been through a lot of things. And, one thing I know is I’m not afraid to speak the truth, be authentic, and just be who I am. I’m Matt Rhule, and this is House Rhules.” I’ll be honest, while all that seems like interesting information, I have a feeling this won’t go over terribly well with Nebraska fans. Fans of that program and school are about as intense as any other fanbase in the country, and the Huskers have been down for quite a while now. Though he’s just 12-13, Rhule seems to have the Huskers on the right track. Having said that, a slow start to this year, combined with launching, might have fans turning on him quickly, however irrational that might be. Aug 31, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) rolls out to pass against the UTEP Miners during the third quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger – USA TODAY Sports I have no problem with the podcast being launched, and coaches have to be creative these days with how they market their program to new recruits and reel in that high-end talent. But if this season goes sideways, there’s no doubt in my mind that a large number of Nebraska fans will use the podcast against Matt Rhule and dish some of the blame on it for a bad season. Best of luck to Rhule and the Huskers, who open up on Thursday, August 28th, at Cincinnati. While Purdue’s quarterback battle might not have been as high-profile as Notre Dame’s or Ohio State’s choices, new head coach Barry Odom has made a decision on the Boilermakers’ signal caller for this season. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Browne has won the job after an interesting journey, to say the least. Browne started two games for Purdue last season, transferred to North Carolina when coach Ryan Walters was fired, went through spring practice with Bill Belichick’s team, and then transferred back to Purdue. Sometimes you have to go back in order to move forward, I guess. Barry Odom’s squad opens the season a week from Saturday at home against Ball State. Dec 2, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) throws a pass against the Georgia Bulldogs in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis – USA TODAY SportsHence then, the article about pat fitzgerald s future sec schedules matt rhule s new career move and other big ten notre dame bullets was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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