CNN  — 

Northwestern University has parted ways with head football coach Pat Fitzgerald, the school announced Monday. The move comes after allegations of hazing within the Wildcats football program.

“This afternoon, I informed Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald that he was being relieved of his duties effective immediately,” university president Michael Schill said in a letter to the Northwestern community.

“The decision comes after a difficult and complex evaluation of my original discipline decision imposed last week on Coach Fitzgerald for his failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program.

“Over the last 72 hours, I have spent a great deal of time in thought and in discussions with people who love our University — the Chair and members of our Board of Trustees, faculty leadership, students, alumni and Coach Fitzgerald himself,” Schill continued.

“I have also received many phone calls, text messages and emails from those I know, and those I don’t, sharing their thoughts. While I am appreciative of the feedback and considered it in my decision-making, ultimately, the decision to originally suspend Coach Fitzgerald was mine and mine alone, as is the decision to part ways with him.”

CNN has reached out to Fitzgerald’s representative for comment. Fitzgerald, who was initially suspended for two weeks without pay on Friday, has said previously he was not aware of the alleged hazing.

A former Illinois inspector general began conducting the independent investigation in December after an anonymous email address sent a complaint at the end of the 2022 season, according to an executive summary of the investigation made public by the university.

The report concluded that “while there was corroborating evidence that hazing had occurred, there was no direct evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of the hazing,” Schill said in a letter to the university’s community following the investigation.

Fitzgerald said he was “disappointed” to learn of the hazing allegations in a statement.

“Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our University,” Fitzgerald said. “We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”

A former player described the alleged hazing incidents within the Wildcats program as “egregious and vile and inhumane behavior,” according to an article published Saturday by Northwestern’s student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern. A second anonymous player confirmed the practices to the newspaper.

The university’s football team has pushed back on the allegations, which it said are “exaggerated and twisted into lies” in a letter to the community on Saturday. The team also said that Fitzgerald was unaware and not involved in the alleged incidents.

CNN’s Wayne Sterling contributed to this report.