Pat Fitzgerald won his second straight Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik awards as the nation's defensive player of the year in 1996 before Northwestern lost to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl in his final collegiate game.
The Wildcats didn't match that nine-win season again until Fitzgerald took over as coach in 2006, part of a string of coaching accomplishments that includes Northwestern's only bowl victory since 1949.
Fittingly, the Wildcats' defense is a major reason Fitzgerald can become the first coach in school history to win 11 games, a mark he can set Friday in the Outback Bowl in Northwestern's first meeting with the Volunteers since Fitzgerald last wore the uniform.