There's a film, from 1982, about a man possessed. A man obsessed.
A connoisseur of opera, he dreams of building a grand hall deep in the South American rainforest.
So he screams his intentions from a bell tower. He steers his steamboat into the jungle. In order to reach his destination, he even convinces the natives to pull his massive ship over a mountain.
This man is crazed. But he is driven.
And he's part of a true story.
The film is called Fitzcarraldo.
The man's name is Fitzgerald.
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There's a football team, in 2007, led by a man possessed. A man obsessed.
A man with a history of wins and championships, he dreams of restoring his program's reputation - which was built on those exact wins and championships.
So he's up every day at 4:50 a.m. and in his office minutes later. With his players, he is living, breathing electricity.
"It's amazing to see how much energy he brings to practices," one said.
His name, too, is Fitzgerald.
He's part of a true story as well.
Sure, he is driven. But crazed?
No. He's just a football coach.
And this fall, just a year after he took over this job, that's all he'll be.
He won't be the green rookie who took over a program years ahead of his time, a 31-year-old face worn weary by embarrassing losses and the skeptical eyes of the college football nation.
When his team kicks off Sept. 1, he'll simply be settling in.
He'll be Pat Fitzgerald, the 32-year-old Northwestern alumnus, Northwestern head football coach and face of Wildcats football.
Now all he has to do is pick up where late coach Randy Walker left off: He has to win.
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There was little surprise when Fitzgerald jumped from linebackers coach to head coach following Walker's death last June.
Though Fitzgerald easily would be the youngest boss in Division I-A, athletic director Mark Murphy was intrigued by his connections to NU's two most successful head coaches - Walker, as an assistant coach, and Gary Barnett, as a player.
Spring Break
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