Linebacker U, that’s who

They call themselves “The Firm” and make no apologies if it’s a bit of a jumbled metaphor.

“Like an Irish law firm,” one of their dads noted in the beginning about Northwestern senior linebackers Paddy Fisher, Blake Gallagher and Chris Bergin.

They talk about business trips and archetypal professionalism but also lunch pails and “work boots” — what they call the matching black cleats they wear on Saturdays.

“We’re business and professional,” Fisher said, “but we get down and dirty.”

Said Gallagher: “It’s a unique firm. We do strap on the boots and bring our lunch pails, but we’re also handing out justice.”

There’s a good bit of Linebacker U going on in Evanston these days as Northwestern, 5-1 and ranked 16th in the latest Associated Press poll, moves through a Big Ten besieged by coronavirus troubles. Saturday’s game against Minnesota was canceled because of active cases in the Golden Gophers’ program, but the Wildcats have stayed clean and thrived — thanks in large part to the linebacking trio steered by College Football Hall of Famer Pat Fitzgerald and linebackers coach Tim McGarigle, whose 545 tackles at the school in the early 2000s set an FBS record.

There’s Irish in all their blood, and punishment in their DNA.

“One thing about our team right now that jumps out to me is no one cares about yards, stats, carries, tackles, interceptions,” Fitzgerald said. “They want to do everything they can to be incredibly unselfish teammates to help our team win, and that’s what those three guys are doing. They’re the heartbeat of our football team — there’s no question about that.”

Gallagher, Fisher and Bergin rank in the top six of the Big Ten in tackles, with 59, 58 and 54, respectively. Each reached double digits in the 21-20 comeback win at Iowa, when the Wildcats trailed 17-0 in the first quarter. They were arguably even better in the 17-7 upset of Wisconsin that stamped this team as the one to beat in the West division.

They’re going to hit you. They’re going to keep the score down. They’re going to set the bar extremely high for whoever comes next.

“If you would have told me when I was a sophomore that this is what would have become of The Firm,” Bergin said, “I don’t know if I would have believed you.”

How they got here is the stuff college ball is made of. Fisher, a 6-4, 240-pound four-year starter and Northwestern’s best player, grew up in Katy, Texas, dreaming of playing for the Longhorns. If not Texas, then Notre Dame or Penn State would do. But he visited Evanston, where Fitzgerald pulled him into a meeting room, and the rest was history.

“He showed me the depth-chart board: ‘This is who we’ve got and who we’re recruiting,’ ” Fisher said. “He said, ‘We think you’re really good and want you to come.’ There was something about it. He didn’t feed me any BS.”

During Fisher’s redshirt year, he hosted Gallagher, a recruit from suburban Boston, on a visit.

“Paddy’s a natural-born leader, an all-class type of guy, someone guys want to be around,” Gallagher said. “I loved it. And Coach Fitz was awesome.”

Bergin came from Michigan, an undersized player who was offered full rides by service academies and Mid-American Conference schools. His dad, Joe, was a standout defensive lineman at Michigan State. His brother Joe had plugged away, mostly on special teams, as a defensive back at NU. Chris, a huge Spartans fan, intended to chart his own path, but a 5:45 a.m. workout on a visit to Evanston made him feel like he was surrounded by brothers.

“Work hard, keep your mouth shut, and good things will happen,” Fitzgerald told him.

So Bergin — all of 5-11, 215 pounds now — signed on as a preferred walk-on. According to Fisher, the Bergin of today is so confident and brash that he’s convinced he’s the best player in the country. Bergin tells it differently.

“If you don’t think you’re the best, no one will,” he said. “But I’m third to Paddy and Blake. The only guys I have more faith in than myself are Paddy and Blake.”

Gallagher wears Fitzgerald’s old number, 51, which ought to tell you something. A third-year starter, he led the Big Ten in tackles as a sophomore with 127. He’s a bit undersized himself — 6-1, 228 — but tell that to Wisconsin, against which he had 14 stops to earn the league’s weekly top defensive player honor.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

“Bad to the bone,” Fisher called Gallagher. “Just a super hard-nosed dude. I just really respect him. He doesn’t care how he’s feeling, how you’re feeling — he’s going to hit you in the chin over and over. He’s awesome. I love that kid.”

If there’s anyone McGarigle, a Chicagoan who was modestly recruited out of St. Patrick, relates to, it’s Gallagher.

“You ask anyone on the team who’s the toughest guy on the team, they’re going to say Blake Gallagher,” McGarigle said. “I’ll put him up against anyone in college football. One of the toughest guys there is, as physical as anybody in the country, and also extremely cerebral. A guy like him is hard to find. He’s a self-made man.”

McGarigle, 37, has grown adept at self-deprecation, which seems to be a key job skill for college coaches nowadays. Fitzgerald, 46, is a master of the craft. To listen to him recount his glory days is to imagine a stiff, slothlike palooka with a cartoonish neck roll who crouched down and hit whatever was in front of him. Both coaches say these linebackers are better, more advanced, than they were. It’s certainly true of Fisher, a big, rangy linebacker who can cover all the ground necessary against spread-out offenses.

Fisher has many NFL years in front of him.

“Absolutely,” McGarigle said. “He plays the run better than anyone and has great pass-game awareness.”

Said Bergin: “More than anyone I’ve ever seen, Paddy has that feel for the game. You’ll blink and he’s making the tackle. He’s the CEO of The Firm. The CFO is Blake. I’m the COO.”

Shortly after McGarigle joined the staff in January 2018, he gathered his linebacking crew and gave them marching orders.

“I don’t want any of you guys to leave here with any potential left in the tank,” he told them. “Don’t leave anything on the table. Don’t leave any stone unturned. Be the best leader you can be. Be the best teammate you can be.”

The Firm took those directives and ran with them. Joined in a cause. Suffered through a 3-9 season in 2019 and came out the other side, robust and fearless. You want to beat Northwestern in 2020? You’re going to have to get through three dudes first.

“They’re ridiculously good,” Fitzgerald said.

They’re why all this is happening. Linebacker U? Maybe that’s a reach. Maybe NU is overlooked pretty much always. Maybe these guys don’t give a flyer about that.

“We’re going to hit you,” Gallagher said.

You’ll feel it in the morning.