WildcatReport is tracking the players who are coming into or leaving the Northwestern program through the transfer portal in 2024-25.
All players will be immediately eligible to play next season.
INCOMING TRANSFERS
OL Evan Beerntsen
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous school: South Dakota State
Northwestern added a wealth of experience and a couple national titles to its offensive line when guard Evan Beerntsen from South Dakota State committed to the Wildcats out of the transfer portal.
Beerntsen began his college career way back in 2019 and will be playing his seventh year of college football for the Wildcats. He's started the last three years for the Jackrabbits, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference and second-team FCS All-America honors in 2024.
He figures to step right into the starting lineup at guard, where the Wildcats have a critical need.
Beerntsen played for current Northwestern offensive coordinator Zach Lujan for his first five years in Brookings. The Jackrabbits won FCS national titles in 2022 and 2023.
WR Griffin Wilde
Status: Junior
Years remaining: Two
Previous school: South Dakota State
Wide receiver Griffin Wilde will reunite in Evanston with Northwestern offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, who held the same position on SDSU's staff when Wilde started his career as a Jackrabbit in 2023.
Wilde should step right into a starting position at wide receiver, where the Wildcats have a critical need for both speed and production. His 70 receptions last year represent more than double what Northwestern's returning receivers had as a group last season.
Wilde caught 70 passes for 1,147 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Jackrabbits in 2024, when he was the team's top target. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound speedster had seven catches for 150 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma State in the season opener, and topped 100 yards receiving in five different games last season.
He played in all 15 games for SDSU as a freshman in 2023, finishing with 20 catches for 399 yards and six touchdowns, an average of 20.0 yards per reception.
TE Alex Lines
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: At least two
Previous schools: New Mexico State, Garden City C.C., Arizona, UNLV
Tight end Alex Lines signed with Northwestern on Dec. 28. Lines has at least two years of eligibility remaining, but he says he has three years left after a circuitous start to his career that included a JUCO year.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Lines did not appear in a game for New Mexico State last season, but in 2023 he starred for Garden City, a junior college in Kansas. He recorded a team-high 31 receptions, leading to 309 yards and two touchdowns.
Before Garden City, Lines played two seasons at Arizona in 2021-22 and one season at UNLV in 2020. In 2021, he played in 11 games with 10 catches for 138 yards for the Wildcats.
Lines was a three-star prospect in the Class of 2020 and committed to UNLV over 11 other offers, including Boise State, BYU and Utah.
S An'Darius Coffey
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous school: Memphis
Northwestern added another veteran safety to its defensive backs room on Dec. 21 when An'Darius Coffey from Memphis committed to the Wildcats.
Coffey made 25 tackles for the Tigers in 2023, including a sack, and had three passes defenses. This season, he made 23 stops and added a forced fumble.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder figures to add depth for the Wildcats and help replace the loss of veteran Devin Turner, a who transferred to Baylor earlier in December.
Coffey was a three-star prospect out of Winona (Miss.) in the Class of 2020. He chose Memphis over offers from Duke, Ole Miss and Tulane, among others.
QB Preston Stone
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous school: SMU
Northwestern took a big step toward turning around a dismal 2024 season when SMU grad transfer quarterback Preston Stone became a Wildcat on Dec. 21. Stone, who was 13-3 as a starter at SMU and has one year of eligibility remaining, gives the Wildcats a veteran, proven winner at the most important position on the field.
Stone was one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in 2023, his lone season as the full-time starter for the Mustangs. In 12 starts, he threw for 3,197 yards (26th in the nation), with 28 touchdowns (11th) and just six interceptions. His passing efficiency rating of 161.3 was 13th in the nation, and his 15.5 average yards per completion ranked fifth.
Stone had four games of at least 300 yards passing in 2023, and nine games with multiple passing touchdowns before breaking his leg in the last game of the regular season against Navy.
Stone was a four-star prospect out of Dallas (Tex.) Parish Episcopal in 2021 and was ranked as the No. 7 dual-threat quarterback in the nation. He chose the hometown Mustangs over 46 -- 46! -- other offers, including the likes of Alabama, Georgia and Texas.
LB Yanni Karlaftis
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous school: Purdue
Northwestern made a big splash in the transfer portal on Dec. 20 when former Purdue linebacker Yanni Karlaftis announced his commitment to the Wildcats.
Karlaftis was a key cog in Purdue’s defense the past two seasons with 55 tackles in 2023 and 57 tackles in 2024, the third most on the team across the two campaigns. He gave the Wildcat coaching staff a pretty good preview of his talents when he recorded eight tackles in Northwestern’s 26-20 overtime win at Purdue.
Karlaftis is the younger brother of former Purdue star and current Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis. Yanni was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2021 and ranked as the No. 188 prospect in the nation.
LS Liam Reardon
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous schools: Akron, Iowa
Northwestern filled a hole on its special teams by landing long snapper Liam Reardon, a grad transfer from Akron.
A Chicago native who attended Mt. Carmel High School, Reardon first walked on at Iowa, where he spent four years. He then earned a scholarship to Akron, where he played the 2024 season. Incredibly, Reardon tallied eight points for the Zips last season. He recovered a muffed punt in the end zone against Bowling Green and scored a two-point conversion against Eastern Michigan.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder will replace previous long snapper Will Halkyard, a three-year starter who transferred to TCU earlier this month.
WR Chase Farrell
Status: Redshirt freshman
Years remaining: Four
Previous school: Stanford
Wide receiver Chase Farrell committed to Stanford over Northwestern as a high schooler in the Class of 2024. But after a redshirt season in Palo Alto, the Wildcats claimed a recruiting victory by winning him back via the transfer portal.
Farrell, a 5-foot-10, 180-pounder, was a high-school track star, winning All-State honors. He ran the fastest 100-meter dash by a freshman in 2021. His final high school personal record in the 100 was a blisteringly quick 10.38 seconds.
He held 11 total offers out of high school including Oregon, Washington and Utah. Farrell will add some much needed speed to a wide receiver room that is graduating its top two targets in AJ Henning and Bryce Kirtz.
OT Xavior Gray
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Previous schools: Liberty, Akron
WildcatReport can confirm that tackle Xavior Gray from Liberty is Northwestern's first transfer commitment of the 2024-25 cycle. Gray was a First-Team All-Conference USA selection and has started 23 games for the Flames in the last two seasons after transferring in from Akron.
Gray is a massive 6-foot-8, 340-pounder who projects to fill the hole at right tackle left by the graduation of Ben Wrather.
Gray was a two-star recruit out of high school in the Class of 2019 and committed to Akron over offers from UMass and Robert Morris. His profile as a transfer jumped substantially and he committed to Northwestern over at least one other public offer, from Miami (Fla.).
OUTGOING TRANSFERS
CB Theran Johnson
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Cornerback Theran Johnson is transferring out of Northwestern after a season in which he was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Johnson was the only Wildcat to be named to any of the conference's top three teams.
Johnson was the team's foremost cover corner and started 23 games the past two seasons.
Johnson was a three-star recruit out of high school that committed to Northwestern over nine other offers, including Notre Dame, Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan.
Destination: Oregon
OL Josh Thompson
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Right guard Josh Thompson is transferring out of Northwestern after two straight seasons of 10+ starts at guard. Thompson came on in relief of Zachary Franks in Week 2 of 2023 and started every game he was healthy for since.
He was voted All-Big Ten honorable mention by both the coaches and media in 2024 and had the offense's second-best PFF grade with a 74.9.
Thompson was a three-star prospect out of Fenton (Mich.) in the Class of 2021. Northwestern was Thompson's only Power Four offer out of high school and the Wildcats won his recruitment over a series of seven MAC schools. But you can bet there will be plenty of Power Four interest for the veteran guard as a transfer this time around.
Destination: LSU
S Devin Turner
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Northwestern suffered a significant blow on National Signing Day when two-year starting safety Devin Turner announced that he was entering the transfer portal.
Turner had just received All-Big Ten honorable mention the day before his announcement for his play in 2024, when he had a team-high three interceptions. He was coming off one of the best performances of his career in the season finale against Illinois, when he came up with two interceptions, including a pick-6.
Turner was a valuable contributor in 2022 as a true freshman, making three starts, and was a fixture in the defensive backfield for the next two seasons. In all, he appeared in 32 games over three seasons, making 26 starts. He totaled 162 tackles, four interceptions and 12 passes defensed for the Wildcats.
A three-star safety in the Class of 2022 out of Frisco (Tex.) Lone Star, Turner chose Northwestern over 13 other offers, including six from Power Four programs.
Destination: Baylor
WR Reggie Fleurima
Status: Junior
Years remaining: Two
Wide receiver Reggie Fleurima was a big get for the Wildcats when he signed in the Class of 2022, a much-hyped, four-star prospect out of Naperville (Ill.) Central who looked to have all the tools for success at the next level. But he left Northwestern with just seven game appearances and no statistics, as he was never able to carve out a role in a crowded wide receiver room
Fleurima committed to Northwestern over 13 other Power Four offers, including Penn State, Iowa, Michigan State and Illinois.
Fleurima, who graduated from Northwestern in just three years, won the distinguished Irving Kabiller Memorial Award for his leadership qualities and commitment to professional development in 2023.
Destination: TBD
LS Will Halkyard
Status: Graduate
Years remaining: One
Long snapper Will Halkyard entered the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility after snapping for Northwestern for the past three seasons. He already has a Northwestern degree and is expected to receive his Master's in June.
Halkyard committed to Northwestern as a preferred walkon in the Class of 2020 but was put on scholarship as he became a starting specialist. He appeared in 40 games for the Wildcats, per NUSports.com.
Halkyard played his high school football at Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West, a program that has produced Wildcats like linebacker Greyson Metz and Class of 2024 tackle Michael O'Connell. He also had a close bond with kicker Jack Olsen, punter Hunter Renner and linebacker Xander Mueller, all Chicagoland products whose relationship went back to youth football in the western suburbs.
Destination: TCU
