I’m set for a one-on-one interview with David Braun this morning at 9:30 am for a half hour. My questions will start with the quarterback situation then focus on recruiting outlook and program building.

No such thing as a bad walkon…

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@EdgyTim has the latest on Gabe Kaminski's recruitment, including a planned trip to Evanston this spring.

Northwestern offered three-star OT Nolan Davenport on April 12. I talked to Davenport about the offer and the possibility of an unofficial to Northwestern this week.

Headed to Stanford. Now we know why we offered the local TE.

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Gerritt Kemp from Dacula, Ga. earned the first offer for a WR from Northwestern in the 2025 cycle. I talked to him about the offer, his recruitment and his potential plans to visit in this WildcatReport premium story.

NU hosted 7ft Keenan this weekend. Played AAU with same program as Ty, then played at Stanford before transferring to Stony Brook. Hope we land him.

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Here's a problem I wish we will have with Northwestern football: Ohio State's former punter Jesse Mirco, a semifinalist for the Ray Guy award as the best collegiate punter, transferred away from Ohio State earlier this year. He recently did an interview and told the host that, while Ohio State was a great opportunity, he REALLY NEEDED to go to a place where he could showcase his skills and position himself to go to the NFL. (Apparently, Ohio State's offensive effectiveness does not give him enough opportunity to showcase his range of punting skills, so he transferred to Vanderbilt where he will prospectively have a ton of opportunities).

Here's to hoping the Wildcat's future offenses are so good, that it's all Big Ten team punter feels he has to transfer to get more opportunity to play.

Chargers have picked up his 5th year option, and will pay him $19 million this year. Getting value from that NU degree!

6-7 years ago - if anyone said that NU would be a MBB school with a run of dances and FB to be the program that sucks, you would be laughed outta the room…

I put this all on the AD and Prez - past and present. They got lucky with some tough love that was also probably a bad idea in CCC. But the school allowed PF to become the unfireable Golden Boy. That attitude probably contributed to what ultimately did him in, but caused plenty of problems along the way. And he was becoming insufferable - attitude about the media, the fans, whatever. He long lost the lovable leader of the team anyone could get behind.

CCC is nothing short of a miracle. Should been run out of here - took a terrible call out from a cheap school unwilling to pay termination money and he actually re-invented himself and the program. While I applaud the result, the guy behind the action truly stepped in dog shot that turned out to be ice cream.

They completely have screwed the pooch with the stadium - and didn’t do well leading into the WR redo. (Place is pretty awesome - but remember there was controversy there too)

What really pisses me off:
We have a major donor that is self made yet seemingly an enabler to all this bullshat. In light of his Bears / McCaskey connections - have to wonder if his fortune was dumb luck

We have a couple major sport voices - but neither care to make NU a thing. Funny - that game day blowhard from OSU has no problem and keeps his job while airing his alma mater opinions…

We have a bunch of professional or retired professional athletes that will go out on a limb for stupid political thoughts but haven’t contributed to NU sports in any positive way I can see.

I like Braun - he did nothing short of a miracle last year. But I would leave immediately if I was him. No stadium, no qb, no brains in roles above him, and those that owe their fortune due to NU athletics are not chipping in enough.

Screw the Ivy League - maybe NU should follow the UoC path. That B1G revenue is peanuts next to the endowment and NU has rarely cared about sports anyway.

Part of benefits of winning the 2023 Byron Nelson Collegiate Golf Award. He's been playing on the Nordic Golf League tour so far in 2024. Hopefully he can bank a lucrative finish. Top 10 would get him in the Myrtle Beach Classic, an oppo field event the week after while the top of the tour plays an elevated event (Wells Fargo).
Field: https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/2024/the-cj-cup-byron-nelson/R2024019/field
His OWGR: https://www.owgr.com/playerprofile/david-nyfjall-23622

I'm trying to think of any players who have left NU and had great success post transfer. Malik Washington is one example, but I can't think of too many others. I'm sure there are plenty, but even guys like Skowronek and Joseph didn't exactly set the world on fire when they went to ND.

This is not to say that Sullivan won't be a star somewhere, and if he downgrades to a good MAC offense, for example, he could very likely put up good numbers, but it just seems like there aren't a ton of examples of players leaving NU for greener pastures who actually find those pastures.

The Wildcats made their first offer to a running back on Feb. 9 when they offered Ryver Peppers from Independence (Mo.) Fort Osage. Check out this story on Peppers, his earlier visit for Northwestern's Junior Day, and a potential visit back to Evanston soon.

Here's a story from a few days ago on the Cincinnati site about 2026 NU QB offeree Owen Lansu. They asked him his thoughts about Northwestern, and this is what he had to say:

One of the few in-person throwing sessions Lansu said he’s had is with Northwestern. He visited there March 30 and left with the offer.

“To be honest, I really like it,” Lansu said. “I like the staff there and I think it’s interesting, taking the old staff, which had more of an old-school approach. The new staff, I don’t know if they ever offered a kid in their sophomore year. I think they’ll be good with that approach and building a new stadium. It’s a really cool atmosphere up there and academics are good.”

Story:

I sat down with head coach David Braun to discuss Northwestern's quarterback situation, recruiting outlook and the state of the program.

2025 QB/Ath Bodpegn Miller out of Ontario HS in Ohio picks up an NU offer. He tagged Binns so assuming we’re looking at him as a wide receiver. Miller was on campus last weekend. He has some Ivy offers along with Iowa State and Boston College.

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nfm

…Jalen Leach: Wildcat.

Northwestern just completed perhaps its quietest spring practice on record. And that’s saying something at a program where spring ball barely registers above a whisper.

Then, on Tuesday morning, three days after their final open practice, senior quarterback Brendan Sullivan dropped a bombshell by entering the transfer portal. It was the equivalent of pulling the fire alarm at the University Library the night before final exams.

Sullivan was the presumed starter coming out of spring for the Wildcats. Ben Bryant, last year’s starter, is out of eligibility. So Sullivan, the perpetual No. 2 for the Wildcats, seemed to be next in line for the job.

He lost the battle for the starting job to a transfer in each of the last two fall camps, first to Ryan Hilinski in 2022, then to Bryant last season. Still, he started eight games in his career and threw for more than 1,000 yards. He had more experience than anyone on the roster.

New offensive coordinator Zach Lujan was widely expected to bring in a transfer quarterback at some point this spring, but now it’s an absolute necessity. The Wildcats can’t go into the season with a top three of Jack Lausch, Ryan Hilinski and Aidan Gray, who has yet to throw a pass at the college level.

The timing of Sullivan’s announcement tipped his hand at the real reason for his departure: he knew he wasn’t going to be the starter, no matter who the Wildcats brought in as a transfer. It also made clear that he wasn’t a fit for Lujan’s offense – and Lujan apparently was okay with letting him go. Lujan likes athletic QBs who can run, so Lausch is now the presumed No. 1 QB on the roster.

The Bible verse Sullivan quoted in his X post, Matthew 5:44, indicates he wasn’t happy with the outcome: It reads, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Regardless, it’s time to turn our attention to the future and who the Wildcats might bring in. Here are four potential candidates – though we know that, in all likelihood, NU’s next QB will likely be someone we haven’t even considered.

The No. 1 choice, of course, would be Mark Gronowski from South Dakota State. He ran Lujan’s offense and went 29-1 with two national championships over the last two seasons. For his career he has 7,590 yards passing, 1,387 yards rushing and a total of 97 touchdowns.

Gronowski would be better than a best-case scenario; more like perfect-case. He can throw, he can run, he knows Lujan’s offense inside and out, and he’s an outstanding student who will get his degree in mechanical engineering in May. He’s even from the Chicago area, prepping at Naperville (Ill.) Neuqua Valley.

The fly in the ointment: he has yet to even hint at transferring, and he just completed spring ball in Brookings. More ominously, multiple sources told WildcatReport that Gronowski isn’t coming to Evanston, so don't get your hopes up at this time. We'll consider him a longshot.

The other quarterback in the portal right now that has some history with NU is Mike Wright. Northwestern recruited the three-star QB for its Class of 2020, and he took an official visit to NU before committing to Vanderbilt. He spent three years at Vandy, then transferred to Mississippi State last year.

The rumor was that Wright was interested in Northwestern as a potential transfer destination but that NU’s staff didn’t reciprocate. In his career, the dual-threat Wright has played in 38 games, with 2,520 passing yards (24 TDs, 14 INTs) and 1,229 rushing yards.

However, it’s important to remember that all of that interest – and non-interest – came under previous offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian. Wright doesn't have any history with Lujan.

Steve Angeli from Notre Dame is another guy who’s not in the portal but potentially could be. The rising junior can’t be happy that the Irish went out and got Duke’s Riley Leonard out of the portal this spring after Sam Hartman transferred in from Wake Forest and started last season.

Will Angeli be content to spend another season as a backup? Does he want to stay at ND for a degree? Those are relevant questions to ask.

In two seasons in South Bend, Angeli has thrown for 504 yards, with seven touchdowns and one interception. Northwestern offered the then-four-star prospect out of New Jersey's Bergen Catholic High School in the Class of 2022 but again, that was under Bajakian, who was also a Bergen product himself.

The last one we’ll throw in is Cooper Legas of Utah State, who entered the portal on April 17. He appeared in 21 games over the last three seasons for USU, throwing for 3,485 yards, 32 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. The grad transfer is looking for a landing spot for his fifth and final year. He played behind the Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love and then record-setting passer Logan Bonner before splitting starting duties over the last two years.

Legas was a two-star coming out of Orem (Utah) in 2019. Academically, he'll be a graduate and looks to be a fit: he had offers from all three service academies out of high school and was named to the Mountain West all-academic team multiple times.

Northwestern will want to move quickly to secure a quarterback for next season, but they won't be in desperation mode quite yet. Last year, Bryant didn't commit to the Wildcats as a grad transfer from Cincinnati until May 3.

They stink. Lausch has athleticism but can’t really throw. Hilinski is Hilinski. Aiden Gray throws an awful ball. We better get Gronowski or we will have zero depth.

Does the coaching staff say to True NU, 'We need a transfer QB. The market for a transfer QB is this $s. Can you cover it?' or does True NU say to the coaching staff, 'Looks like you need a transfer QB. This is how much we have to give you.' or None of the above?