After stunning the Wildcats with SIU, Hagarty hopes to spark NU's rebound

Less than a year ago, Richie Hagarty was at Ryan Field looking to celebrate.

Southern Illinois had just stunned Northwestern, 31-24, as a forced fumble from Hagarty helped deliver the Salukis their second victory over a Big Ten program in school history.

Most Northwestern fans remember that game very differently. After beating Nebraska in Ireland and a close loss to Duke, the SIU game was the first time it became clear the Wildcats hadn’t solved the defensive woes that had plagued the team the year before.

And yet, there was Hagarty inside the Walter Athletics Center on Wednesday morning, wearing Northwestern gear and explaining how the Wildcats were going to turn it all around in 2023.

“Everybody’s ready to roll,” Hagarty said. “It’s a very smart program here and everyone has the wits to be able to do what they need to do… When you go out to practice, everybody’s competing, everybody’s banging, and everybody wants to win. We’re coming for it all.”

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Moving from an all-conference player in the Missouri Valley Conference to contributing in the Big Ten is a tall task, and Hagarty already noticed differences in fall camp.

“I’m coming from a smaller program than a lot of these guys,” Hagarty said. “SIU is very different from Northwestern. We won that game last year, but it’s very different between the depth, the talent and the number of reps you get at practice. You don’t have as much time to recover. So, it’s a big change coming here, but it’s a positive change.”

Hagarty will be part of the defense trying to make its own positive change after a dismal year where they recorded just 18 sacks in 2022, the worst mark in the Big Ten.

Hagarty was dominant in the MVC last season and comes to the Big Ten as Pro Football Focus' fourth highest-graded pass rusher last season. He led the Salukis in sacks (6.5) and TFLs (9.0) in his first season as a regular starter in Carbondale.

Interim head coach David Braun believes Hagarty and the rest of the defensive line – which added two more transfers in Matthew Lawson (Fresno State) and Reggie Pearson (Bethune-Cookman) in the spring - can help turn that weakness into a strength.

"I see a group that has a lot of room for improvement [and is] not where they need to be at today, but that Week 1 can help us win a football game,” Braun said. “By midseason, I think they could be the reason that we're winning football games."

It's the time of year when every college football coach is lauding the potential of their position groups, but Hagarty's story sets him apart.

An Indianapolis native, he was recruited by Northwestern out of high school before the Wildcats offered someone else - Adetomiwa Adebawore, a fourth-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts this year. Hagarty committed to Miami (Ohio), and after a redshirt and COVID-season there, he transferred to SIU and finally played his “freshman” season in 2021.

Hagarty arrives in Evanston as a junior on the field and as a 23-year-old who can give the Wildcats some veteran leadership. But he’s going to do it his way.

“Richie has a really unique mixture of goofy, just-going-to-be-myself, don’t-care-what-other-people-think mixed with a great sense of maturity. He understands his purpose,” Braun said. “He’s very intentional about the way he approaches practice, but he’s going to be himself.”

A great example of that dynamic comes with quick glance at Hagarty's social media. He often wore Joker-inspired eye black during his season at SIU and took his team photo in aviator sunglasses. He’s also a father, with those same accounts covered in photos of his daughter.

It’s a bond Hagarty shares with his head coach, who welcomed his first daughter in July.

“We’ve had a lot of talks about it, and we share wisdom back-and-forth,” Braun said. “Richie’s in a unique situation, but when his daughter is here, he spends time with her and loves her, and when she’s not, his mind is back home and on making sure she’s taken care of.

"That’s no easy thing for a young man who’s also a college football player to navigate, but I gain more and more respect for every him day because of the way that he handles it.”

It was a small moment in a presser filled with important questions about Northwestern’s hazing scandal and team culture, but it’s a big reason why Hagarty seems to be so refreshing and important to that culture.

He looks like he’s holding back a smile every time he answers a question about college football and carries himself like a student-athlete who can’t wait to play in a Big Ten defense for the first time.

“There’s a lot of competition here,” Hagarty said. “But it’s not a drastic drop off from where I’ve been.

"Whether it was in the Group of Five or the FCS, everybody can play… I tried to come to Northwestern out of high school but wasn’t granted the opportunity. Now I’m blessed to be here, and I’m excited about where this program is going.”