The top 8 photos of Pat Fitzgerald with an American flag

It’s American as apple pie. Happy Independence Day!

By Tristan Jung Jul 4, 2017, 7:03am CDT

NCAA Football: Northwestern at Wisconsin

Northwestern’s head football coach is good at a lot of things. He’s good at developing young men. He’s good at building a strong football team with high academic standards. He’s good at playing linebacker and coaching linebackers.

But for July 4th, the most important thing Pat Fitzgerald is good at is standing in front of American flags. More than any other Northwestern coach, Pat Fitzgerald really owns the “let’s stand in front of the American flag and look cool” market. It suits him well.

In honor of Independence Day, here are the Top 8 photos of Pat Fitzgerald and an American flag that we could find on SB Nation’s proprietary photo library. There weren’t that many.

8. Pat Fitzgerald runs by over a patriotic “N” before playing Eastern Illinois.

Bear with us. It’ll be better.

7. Fitz and J.B. Butler at the Pinstripe Bowl

NCAA Football: Pinstripe Bowl-Northwestern vs Pittsburgh

Points deducted for Fitz not being the center of the photo.

6. A younger Pat Fitzgerald with an American flag on his headset.

Subtle, but bold. Observe how the photo tricks you into believing there is no American flag in the shot, only for you to find it just after looking at Pat Fitzgerald’s grimacing face.

5. Fitzgerald runs out with his team before playing Syracuse.

Fitz looks far too serious for this shot. He looks like someone from the 1890s who would be mad that America is getting called “America” and prefers the slightly more urbane “Columbia” or “The Republic.”

4. Pat Fitzgerald lines up in the tunnel before facing Wisconsin in 2015.

The fans probably started throwing snowballs at him a few seconds later.

3. This gif:

It’s quite good.

2. Fitz prepares for a game against Ohio State.

I see some real Top Gun vibes with this photo.

1. Pat Fitzgerald owns Yankee Stadium

New Era Pinstripe Bowl - Northwestern v Pittsburgh

Yeah, this is a good photo. Enough said.

Happy July 4th from Inside NU, everyone!