Cats Corner: Football’s new offensive hires and transfers offer promise

Charlie Perlman and Kamran Nia

May 5, 2026

The Daily Northwestern · Cats Corner: Football’s new offensive hires and transfers offer promise

CHARLIE PERLMAN: New Northwestern quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel burst into the college football scene last season, leading UCLA to an upset over No. 7 Penn State in his first game calling plays. Born at UCLA Medical Center and a former Bruins backup quarterback, Neuheisel seemed destined to rise through the program before he announced his surprise move to Evanston in January.

From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Charlie Perlman. This is Cats Corner, a podcast about all things sports and Purple Pride.

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CHARLIE PERLMAN: To talk more about the impact Neuheisel could bring to Northwestern, here’s former sports editor and Daily senior staffer Kamran Nia.

So Kam, how do you think Jerry Neuheisel can take Aidan Chiles’ game to the next level?

KAMRAN NIA: I think Jerry comes to NU with a lot of experience at UCLA, most recently serving as their interim offensive coordinator, which is going to be a huge benefit for Aidan Chiles. Jerry brought Chiles to NU from Michigan State, where last season he threw for 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.

He also ran for over 200 yards on the ground. So I think Jerry’s going to be able to elevate Chiles by just leveraging his past experience at UCLA. He grew through the ranks there for almost a decade, working with receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, so he’ll bring perspective from all across the field.

And then I think for Chiles, just as a whole, he’ll be working inside of Chip Kelly’s offense, which loves to lean on quarterbacks who can use their legs and then also the running game to complement that. I think it’s going to be a really good system for Chiles. I think Jerry brings a lot of experience as well, which would be helpful for sure.

CHARLIE PERLMAN: Yeah, you mentioned how Jerry was able to bring Chiles over from Michigan State. I’d love to ask you about something you mentioned in your article about Rick Neuheisel, his father, and his ability to recruit. You know how Jerry still uses some of his tricks. What have you thought about some of the recruits that NU has picked up in the transfer portal and from high school?

KAMRAN NIA: Yeah, that was a really fun anecdote, for sure, because Rick is one of the great college coaches, having various stints with UCLA, Colorado, Washington, being able to recruit all over the country, even appearing as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens. So I think Jerry being able to soak up all that knowledge is going to be really important for him, and I think this class that NU has got is solid for sure, it ranks 11th on 247Sports’ transfer class rankings in the Big Ten, which I think is decent for NU. I think specifically looking at the quarterback position, there’s going to be really good competition there.

Obviously, Aidan Chiles from Michigan State is the big name and the person who’s expected to be the starter. But they haven’t officially announced the starter yet. They’ve also brought in Nicco Marchiol from West Virginia, who poses to kind of mix in there. And then I think an existing option with Ryan Boe should be able to create a lot of competition in the quarterback room, which I think can lift all of the tides.

Specifically looking at the receiver room, it might have been nice to get another pass catcher in there, but I think the running game shapes to be great with (Caleb) Komolafe again, (Joseph) Himon (II), throw in some new guys as well. And then I think the quarterback room, if Chiles or one of these other guys can win the job and run with it, I think that could be really big for NU, for sure.

CHARLIE PERLMAN: Jerry used to coach wide receivers at UCLA and call plays, but also, as you mentioned earlier in the interview, Chip Kelly is a run-heavy offense. So what impact do you think these two hires will have on Griffin Wilde, NU’s top returning wide receiver in his senior season?

KAMRAN NIA: I think it’s going to be big. I mean, Wilde has already shown that he’s a really capable receiver, making the jump up to the power four level and finding success. And I think that, regardless of what his numbers look like, obviously Chip is going to lean on the run game. But I think last year with (Zach) Lujan, he also leaned on the run game.

I don’t really anticipate much of a change from Wilde, but I think this new coaching staff, just Chip Kelly, brings lots of experience and success. He won a national championship as the offensive coordinator with Ohio State, he had a lot of successful teams at UCLA, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback. Many top 10 offenses in the country, and those really started with the running game succeeding, a quarterback who can get mobile, and then just taking what the defense gives you as far as receiving. And I think that’s going to be good for Wilde, and I think he’s going to have a lot more room to operate and I think opposing defenses are going to have to be more honest, which is going to be big.

I think for Neuheisel, specifically, just having a background playing as a quarterback, coaching wide receivers, coaching tight ends, coaching quarterbacks, I think he just brings a lot of knowledge from around the field. One of the things that he told me about when he was coaching receivers and tight ends is that he was able to leverage his knowledge as a quarterback and use it to tell the receivers kind of what the quarterback was thinking, really give them that inside information that some other coaches might not have, all of the nuances there.

Obviously, all of them are going to be knowledgeable, but some of them might not have the nuances. I think he’s just really going to have a great understanding of how every position on the offense looks at the game, approaches it, and I mean, won’t really be working as directly with Wilde, but I think there will be some crossover. For Chiles and his other quarterbacks, Jerry will be able to go directly to them and kind of say, “This is what Griffin Wilde might be thinking, this is what one of the other receivers might be thinking.” And I think that’s going to be really big for those guys.

CHARLIE PERLMAN: You mentioned Chip Kelly and also, of course, Jerry Neuheisel, but they aren’t the only new coaches on the staff by a long shot. Which new hire stands out to you the most and why?

KAMRAN NIA: Obviously, the two we’ve mentioned, the big highlight is Chip Kelly, but I think across the board, they’ve made a lot of good hires. I think offensive line coach Tim Drevno is going to make a huge impact. Obviously, you’re losing one of your top linemen to the draft, which is going to be tough, but I think to really make the Chip Kelly offense succeed, you’re going to need that to start with the offensive line. And I think if Drevno can succeed, I think that’s going to be a big boost for NU as a whole.

I think this upcoming season projects to be a little bit difficult for NU, even with all of these improvements, just because you play Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon — all three teams who made the college football playoff last year from the Big Ten. I think that’s going to be really difficult. You play a Penn State team that figures to be a little bit revived after a tough season last year, where Jerry Neuheisel led at offensive coordinator. (The) Bruins kind of dismantled them, winning 42-37 after starting the season with four losses.

So, I think the schedule is going to be difficult. I think it’s going to be a year of figuring things out for NU, getting all of the staff together, really getting them to mesh, understand whose roles are what, but I think there’s a lot of potential. And I think anytime you have a coach like Chip Kelly with all of his pedigree, you figure you have a chance to succeed. And I think David Braun did a lot of great things on the defensive side of the ball. That side of the ball figures to be pretty good this year as well, so I think this should be an improved NU team. Really tough schedule, but I think that they’ll figure it out as the season goes on. And I think they set up really well for the season after that.

CHARLIE PERLMAN: Your article dives deep into the ties that connect Neuheisel to UCLA so much. It’s so interesting to see him leave. Do you think we’ll see him here for a long time in Evanston?

KAMRAN NIA: I think speaking to Jerry, obviously, he played at UCLA. He was a backup quarterback there, had an iconic moment where he came in for an injured Brett Hundley and took UCLA to a win over Texas in Texas, which was really iconic, but he was never able to become the starter as a player there. Couldn’t stomach sitting behind Josh Rosen for his final year there, and he ended up going and playing in Japan, and then eventually kind of landed back at UCLA as a coach, and really grew and blossomed there ’causeChip Kelly was his head coach at UCLA at one point. Then Chip Kelly left, and Jerry stayed. And I think a lot of those things pointed to him being at UCLA for a long time, but I think it really seems like he’s turning the chapter a little bit.

I think in our conversations, he mentioned that UCLA will always be home for him. I think he spent a lot of time there, most of his high school years he spent there. It’s going to be interesting, but it seems like he is really ready to kind of settle down in Evanston for a little bit. He said he remembers last year when NU and UCLA were playing, that he was looking around Evanston, and he took a couple of photos and sent them to his wife, and he said that he could really see them living there. So I think if this offensive staff finds success, which it might, I mean, who knows how long Chip Kelly will be around, but maybe Jerry Neuheisel is the next offensive coordinator after him in Evanston.

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CHARLIE PERLMAN: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Charlie Perlman. Thanks for listening to another episode of Cats Corner. This episode was reported by Charlie Perlman and Kamran Nia and produced by Wallis Rogin.

The audio editor is Wallis Rogin. The multimedia managing editors are Ruby Dowling, Isabella Jacob and Matt Wasilewski. The editor in chief is Anavi Prakash.

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Email: [email protected]

X: @kamran_nia