Surprise! Northwestern signs its 2020 quarterback

Well, that didn't take long, did it?

After missing on a quarterback on Wednesday, Northwestern filled its biggest need for the 2020 class on Friday by signing Carl Richardson of Salinas (Calif.) on the final day of the early signing period.

Wildcat coach Pat Fitzgerald announced Richardson's signing on Twitter on Friday.

Richardson, a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder, had nine other reported offers, including Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State and Nevada. His signing came as a surprise as he wasn't even known to be on the Wildcats' radar.

Richardson comes from an athletic family with deep ties to Stanford. His older brother, Jack, was a quarterback for the Cardinal who just entered the transfer portal and both his parents were Cardinal athletes: father Kevin was a linebacker and mother Teresa played volleyball.

But Carl wound up going much further east than Palo Alto to play at Northwestern. He will enroll at NU in January.

The Wildcats were still in the market for a quarterback after three-star Mike Wright signed with Vanderbilt, instead of Northwestern, on Wednesday.

Richardson, who is unranked, is the 17th member of NU's class, which is currently ranked 51st in the nation by Rivals.

Attempts to reach Richardson were not immediately successful. Stay tuned for more from WildcatReport...