Posted
11/29/22

 






Also Releases Marty Long and Dennis Springer

After three anxious days, the word has finally come from Central Street: Coach Fitzgerald has fired Wildcat defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil, defensive line coach Marty Long, and wide receiver coach Dennis Springer. Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian and the rest of the assistants appear to be safe.
 
While some fans might argue that the housecleaning does not go far enough, removing O'Neil was a necessary step to righting the ship. Hopefully, with JON gone the defense can begin to regroup and heal. The offense, however, is a bigger mystery. It might be that Fitzgerald is giving the remaining offensive staff one more season to show improvement.

Coach Long's firing is truly unfortunate, but understandable. Long has had a strong career at NU, and he'll be missed.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Fitzgerald released a statement that referred to the firings: "Our entire football family is grateful for what these three men brought to our program on and off the field. . . Ultimately, these difficult decisions were made with the intention of putting our team in the best position for success on gameday moving forward. The process to fill these important roles on our staff will begin immediately."