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Ayeni returning to Northwestern as coach

Lou Ayeni
Lou Ayeni

EVANSTON – Northwestern alum Lou Ayeni has joined the Wildcats football staff as Running Backs Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, Dan & Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald announced Friday. Matt MacPherson will take over as Special Teams Coordinator and Cornerbacks Coach.

"We're thrilled to bring Lou back home to Evanston," said Fitzgerald. "Over the last decade he has earned tremendous experience learning from top-flight mentors in both professional and college football. His tenacity in recruiting will be an immediate benefit to our program, and we look forward to his work with our student-athletes on the field. He's taking over a position group that has been led to great success by Matt MacPherson, who we're excited to see now in a well-earned Coordinator role and a return to his defensive roots."

Ayeni spent the last four seasons at Iowa State University, the final two as Associate Head Coach and Running Game Coordinator. The Cyclones increased their rushing production by nearly 60 yards-per-game from his first to second year on staff. This season Iowa State ranked No. 1 in the nation with just one fumble lost and No. 2 in FBS with only eight total fumbles during the campaign, the third time in the last four years they ranked among the nation's Top-16 in total fumbles.

Prior to his tenure in Ames, he spent four years on staff at the University of Toledo, the last three as Associate Head Coach and Run Game Coordinator. There he helped recruit and mentor 2017 National Football League rushing leader Kareem Hunt. The Rockets qualified for a bowl game in three of the last four seasons and finished among the top five rushing teams in the MAC all four years. Ayeni helped place a running back on an All-MAC Team and mentored a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his last four seasons. Ayeni's coaching career started with a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Northwestern.

A native of Woodbury, Minnesota, Ayeni began his Wildcats career as a running back and was part of Northwestern's 2000 Big Ten Championship squad, before switching to safety for his senior season. He graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in communications and a minor in sociology. After graduation, Ayeni played for Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts as a safety in 2004-05 before joining the St. Louis Rams in 2005-06 as a linebacker.

MacPherson just finished his 12th season as the Wildcats Running Backs Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, and his elevated role includes a return to the defensive side of the ball. The Dayton, Ohio, native was a two-time First Team All-Conference linebacker at DePauw University, as well as the Tigers' Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. His served as a defensive graduate assistant for Northwestern from 2000-02, as Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach at Kenyon College in 2003, and as Safeties Coach at Eastern Michigan University from 2004-05. During his tenure in Evanston, MacPherson has coached two of the three most productive running backs in Wildcats history in Justin Jackson and Tyrell Sutton.

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