By Mark Pszonak
With action in the transfer portal slowing down, it is time to take a closer look at how each P4 school did during this cycle. Up now are the Northwestern Wildcats
The skinny: Head coach David Braun deserves more credit for leading the Wildcats to eight wins last season after the July firing of Pat Fitzgerald due to hazing allegations. His performance deservedly earned him the fulltime job, but his ability to not only keep the team adrift but also win eight games and finish with a Las Vegas Bowl victory over Utah was remarkable. Now as the man in charge of the program, some of Coach Braun’s tasks included finding a transfer quarterback after the spring departure of their likely starter and strengthening an offensive line that had several holes.
Total # entries into portal: 12
Total # of scholarship players who entered portal: 11
Number of scholarship players who withdrew: 0
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Key losses: OL Josh Priebe (Michigan), DB Rod Heard II (Notre Dame), DB Jaheem Joseph (West Virginia), DB Garnett Hollis (West Virginia), QB Brendan Sullivan (Iowa)
Key additions: LB Nigel Glover (Ohio State), OL Matt Keeler (Texas Tech), QB Mike Wright (Mississippi State), OL Jack Bailey (Colorado)
Final thoughts: Brendan Sullivan seemed poised to be the starter in 2024, and participated during spring practices, but then abruptly transferred to Iowa. That left the Wildcats with a huge hole, which they hope to have filled with Mike Wright. The offensive line already was an issue but became a bigger one when Josh Priebe transferred to Michigan. Both Jack Bailey and Matt Keeler will be depended upon to become immediate contributors to help the unit. The defense will likely have to carry the team once again, and while they also suffered some significant departures in the secondary, they did add a young playmaker at linebacker with Nigel Glover. As usual, Northwestern won’t look pretty on paper, but everyone should have learned by now to never count out the Wildcats.
