John Fitzgerald - who spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Illinois Tech - has joined the Notre Dame baseball staff as the program's volunteer assistant coach. In addition to helping coach the outfielders, catchers and pitchers, Fitzgerald oversees Notre Dame's expansive baseball camp operation and helps coordinate the program's annual Opening Night Dinner.
Fitzgerald's three seasons at Illinois Tech (2004-06) included several noteworthy accomplishments. The 2004 Scarlet Hawks (22-25) posted the most wins by an Illinois Tech team in four years, with Fitzgerald winning more games that any previous first-year coach in the history of the program. His 2004 pitchers lowered the staff ERA by nearly half-a-run from the previous season while totaling 206 strikeouts, most by a Scarlet Hawks staff since the mid-1990s.
After securing the largest letter-of-intent signee group (13) in the history of Illinois Tech baseball, Fitzgerald guided the 2005 team to the secondhighest win total (26-21) ever by a Scarlet Hawks team. The team cracked the NAIA top-25 poll for the first time in the program's history while finishing as the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) leader in both team ERA (3.10) and stolen bases (88, school record).
Fitzgerald's 2006 pitching staff again led the conference in ERA (3.66) while his three seasons at Illinois Tech produced seven all-conference performers. As head coach, Fitzgerald oversaw all aspects of the program - including budget, fundraising and community service.
During his time at Illinois Tech (2003-06), Fitzgerald also served as assistant athletic director for external affairs. His duties included coordinating all sports information duties for the department's 10 NAIA athletic programs and overseeing all layout, content and updates for the athletic department's website.
Fitzgerald - who served as the CCAC's baseball chairman - also compiled significant experience coaching in the nation's summer wood-bat leagues for college-age players. He was head coach of the Central Illinois Collegiate League's DuBois County (Huntingburg, Ind.) Bombers in the summer of 2006 and was manager of the south squad for the CICL all-star game. He previously was head coach of the New York Collegiate Baseball League's Saratoga Phillies ('05), after serving as pitching coach for the New England Collegiate League's Danbury (Conn.) Westerners in the summer of 2004 and with the CICL's Twin City Stars (Normal, Ill.) in the summer of '03.
His assistant coaching experience includes stints at his alma mater the University of Chicago (1999), at St. Ignatius High School in Chicago (2000 head freshman/sophomore coach) and at University High School in Bloomington, Ill., as a varsity assistant and program pitching coordinator ('03). He served as a baseball camp clinician at Notre Dame (2003-04), Illinois State (2003, '05), the Chicago White Sox Training Centers (1997-99) and Bill Holowaty's Eastern Connecticut Baseball School (2004) - in addition to being a private pitching instructor in Chicago.
A four-year letterwinner at the University of Chicago, Fitzgerald was among the top pitchers for a Maroons program that posted three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program's history. His 12-8 career record included a 6-2 mark during his sophomore season in 1996.
In addition to his playing and coaching accomplishment, Fitzgerald has been involved as a sports radio and television broadcaster. He spent the 2002-03 academic year as sports director at WJBC Radio in Bloomington, Ill., serving as the play-by-play voice for Illinois State football and basketball on a statewide radio network. His time at WJBC included hosting weekly football and basketball coaches shows for the seven-station radio network, delivering morning sports reports for the top-rated AM morning show in the market, and managing assignments for a five-person sports department at the news/talk station.
He spent three years (2000-02) as the TV and radio play-by-play voice for Loyola Chicago men's and women's basketball, also serving as the university's director of athletic marketing. His duties included all marketing and promotional efforts, in addition to coordinating publications, broadcasts and corporate sales efforts for facility signage.
Fitzgerald - who still assists with radio and TV broadcasting for Loyola basketball - has handled play-by-play work for Fox Sports Net Chicago, Fox Sports Net Ohio and Horizon League Television Network. He provided freelance TV and radio play-by-play for Comcast Sports Net Chicago ('05-'06) and Loyola radio ('02-'06) while also serving as a part-time sports talk host and anchor in Chicago at the nationally-syndicated Sporting News Radio Network, from 1999-2006.
A 1998 graduate of the University of Chicago (with a degree in sociology), Fitzgerald received his MBA - with concentrations in management and marketing - from Loyola Chicago in 2001. During his first two years at Loyola (1998-2000), he served as a sports information graduate assistant and was the primary media contact for men's and women's soccer, men's volleyball and softball.
