A graduate of the Class of 1954, Joseph Dennis Fitzgerald (March 13, 1936 – January 14, 2001) was a Pan American Games Gold Medalist; MVP of the 1960 Michigan Wolverines football team; a professional and university football coach; a U. S. Marine; and he is a Father Gabriel Richard Alumni Legend!
After high school, Fitzgerald served in the United States Marine Corps from 1954 to 1957. He was a member of the Camp LeJeune wrestling team in 1956 and 1957.
After his time in the Marine Corps, he enrolled at the University of Michigan where he wrestled and played football. He was named the most valuable player of the 1960 Michigan Wolverines football team. Fitzgerald is known for being one of the last football players in America to wear only a leather helmet with no face guard.
As a wrestler, he was a Two-Time Big Ten Champion and at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, he won a gold medal representing the United States.
Fitzgerald received his master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1963.
After college, Fitzgerald spent more than 35 years working as a football coach. He worked as an assistant coach at Michigan, Kentucky, Kent State, Syracuse, Tulane, and at Grand Valley State. He was the head football coach at Kent State from 1975 to 1977. One of his players at Kent State was a defensive back named Nick Saban, who later became his linebackers coach.
Fitzgerald spent seven years in the NFL (1982–1988) as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Steelers legend Jack Lambert was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he asked Fitzgerald to introduce him at the ceremony.
Lambert said, “I chose coach Fitzgerald because I felt he, more than anyone else, taught me the techniques and the fundamentals that I used throughout college and professional football. But even more importantly, he took a raw talent and raw toughness in me and refined them into a mental discipline; a discipline that is necessary to excel.”
Fitzgerald’s last coaching role was as the defensive coordinator for the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League. He was diagnosed with lymphoma prior to their 1999 season and despite going through chemotherapy throughout the season, he never missed a day of practice and even helped lead the Firebirds to an Arena Football League championship.
This was Fitzgerald’s final year of coaching. Due to his illness, he retired after the season. Dennis passed away in 2001 and is buried in Ann Arbor. Etched across his headstone are the words “Forever Irish.”
Do you have a nomination for FGR/St. Thomas Alumni Legends? Email Chris Russ at cruss@fgrhs.org.