One of the busiest days of the college football season concluded on Wednesday, as Northwestern finalized its Class of 2024 with incoming players signing their national letter of intent to play in Evanston.

Head coach David Braun’s first recruiting class consists of 15 incoming Wildcats, some as close as NU’s backyard – the Chicago suburbs – and others coming from as far as London. The program’s first class without a four star recruit, the recruiting class ranks 97th nationally and last in the Big Ten, according to 247sports.com.

However, Braun emphasized his excitement and his staff’s intentionality when putting the class together Wednesday. The collection of players were recruited during every phase of Braun’s season – before he was promoted to interim coach, while he served as interim head coach, and after he was given the keys fully in November. Braun said each recruit brings value to the table.  

“We found a group of athletes that love the game of football, that want to be pushed, that want to reach their full potential…value a Northwestern degree,” Braun said. “We want to build a team with guys that have been here together for four and five years and are invested in one another.”

With a day that started at 3:30 a.m. and phone calls that started pouring in 30 minutes later, here are a few takeaways from Braun’s address regarding the 15-person class. 

1. With a high retention rate, NU already at scholarship maximum

Braun’s first recruiting class wasn’t a big one — the 15 national letter of intent signatures was one of the smallest in NU history.

Of course, part of it can be attributed to Pat Fitzgerald’s firing, the program’s summer firestorm and the unpredictability of Braun’s future with an ‘interim’ tag that lasted most of the regular season. However, the head coach largely tied this year’s class to a lack of spots available due to the program’s high level of retention.

The program has already hit its maximum number of scholarships.

“We’re going to have to do a lot of work with getting some guys to walk-on and bolster up our walk-on program,” Braun said. “We really don’t have any more scholarships to offer out which is a credit to the experience that the young men in our program have experienced and the fact that so many guys want to continue to be a part of this.”

Although the high retention rate is a goal that every program strives for, NU’s crunch in scholarships leaves little room for transfer portal targets.

Braun noted that the ‘Cats have a roster limit of 112 currently, whereas other schools are operating with 120. By fall camp, though, NU’s plan is to push towards a roster size of 120 –– hence the importance of walk-ons. 

Even though this leaves Braun and his staff with a lot of work to do throughout the offseason, he emphasized that this is more of a positive than negative. 

“It means we got a bunch of guys that want to stay,” Braun said. “It’s a good problem to have, I would always lean into the retention piece of things.”

2. Braun not weary of recruitment class, player rankings

When asked about the recruitment class’ national ranking and its importance to his staff, Braun smirked.

His answer revealed that the gesture didn’t come out of frustration with the placement, but rather how much he and his staff do not prioritize numbers. He detailed that over the years, some of his best recruiting classes have accumulated the least amount of buzz. 

“In the new age of recruiting and the landscape of college football, I care less about those rankings than I ever have,” Braun said. “I don’t care about who they are when they walk in the door, I’m concerned about where they’re at as a young man and as a football player, how they’ve physically developed 24 months after they arrive and want to build a team.”

Out of the 15 incoming ‘Cats, none are nationally ranked. The group consists mostly of three-star recruits webbed with a few two-star athletes as well. 

Yet, Braun noted that these numbers don’t reflect the time and effort his staff put in to find this talent, whether that be visiting incoming cornerback Timi Oke in London or heading out to the West Coast to see wide receiver Hayden Eligon II show out. 

And, with the elimination of the director of player personnel and loss of a recruiting director,NU’s recruiting regime will look a lot different than in years past. But, with that said, Braun looks forward to the challenge as the recruitment landscape continues to change, and loves the job his staff did with this class.  

“A year from now, we may be talking about what an incredible ranking that we have and I’m going to tell you the same thing,” Braun said. “We’ve got to do a great job of retaining our student athletes so that they get their degree from Northwestern, but we also need to bring in young men that really value the opportunity to complete their degree at Northwestern.”

3. NU will target offensive line, safety in the transfer portal 

Offensive line and safety.

These were the two positions Braun confirmed that the ‘Cats will target through the transfer portal. Although the sky room is filled with depth at the cornerback and safety position, NU will lose defensive back Rod Heard II, who worked at the nickel position, after this season. 

This doesn’t mean the ‘Cats will look to add multiple safeties, as Braun said they will search for one player. But, an addition of an experienced safety will allow them to lean into their depth . 

Braun emphasized that his staff’s decision on what player to bring will rely heavily on whether he’s the ‘right person.’

“The thing that’s critical to us as we evaluate the potential of bringing in or transferring is first and foremost, he has to be our kind of guy,” Braun said. “Someone that’s going to fit into our locker room, going to mesh with our guys, that’s going to be team first, that’s going to understand all opportunities at Northwestern and with Northwestern football are going to be earned opportunities.”

In contrast to the program’s emphasis on bringing in defensive talent last offseason, the team will mainly search for offensive line players in the transfer portal. With All-Big Ten senior offensive lineman Josh Priebe announcing his intention to transfer early this month and others graduating, Braun hopes to bring in more depth to the position group this offseason.

Nonetheless, NU’s approach to which athletes they target won’t be decided solely off the ‘Cats criteria of the ‘right guy.’ It will also come down to how much more competitive they can make their respective groups.

“If we’re going to bring them in as a transfer, there has to be some sort of immediate need to fill, whether that be depth or the potential of creating some competition to make sure that we feel really good about whoever’s starting at that position moving forward.”

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