Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald told CBSSports.com that he was disappointed that quarterback Kain Colter participated in the All Players United movement without letting the team know first.
Colter was the highest profile name attached to the awareness campaign that emerged out of the quarterback’s participation in the National College Players Association. Twenty-eight players, from Georgia, Georgia Tech and Northwestern, displayed the initials “APU” somewhere on their equipment on Saturday. The plan to raise awareness to players’ rights had been planned for months according to NCPA president Ramogi Huma.
Colter wrote “APU” on both of his wrist bands during Northwestern’s game with Maine this past Saturday.
His actions didn’t sit well with Fitzgerald, who wants players to be team focused.“I told him I was disappointed in him, not that he believes in the cause and not that he was taking a role in that but … what we try to do collectively is team focused.”
“I told him, ‘I don’t think you were trying to draw attention to yourself. I don’t think you were trying to step out of bounds of the team, but if you’re going to do things like that in the future it needs to be done and vetted through the systems we have in place.’ It was a teachable and coachable moment.”Fitzgerald isn’t the only coach disappointed with his players over this. Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson also expressed reservations about a few of his players taking part in the movement this past weekend.