 After graduation, he joined the coaching staff at the University of Maryland in 1998 under head coach Ron Vanderlinden, who had been Fitzgerald's defensive coordinator during his playing days at Northwestern.He then moved on to the University of Colorado under his former Northwestern head coach, Gary Barnett.He took a job at the University of Idaho before returning to Northwestern in 2001, where he served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator until his promotion to head coach after the unexpected death of Randy Walker in June 2006.