INDIANAPOLIS-For a long time under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern embodied stability in its coaching staff. Assistants were hired and retained, for the most part, until they were hired away or retired. His staff went an unheard of seven consecutive years without any changes.
Just three years ago, in 2021, after the Wildcats won the Citrus Bowl, Fitzgerald and his two coordinators -- Mike Bajakian on offense and Mike Hankwitz on defense -- were 55 years old on average.
Cut to 2024 and new head coach David Braun has promoted linebackers coach Tim McGarigle to defensive coordinator and hired away Zach Lujan from South Dakota State as offensive coordinator. Average age of that trio at the start of the 2024 season will be 36.
That's extraordinarily young for the college ranks and Braun knows there will be plenty of doubts about his fresh-faced staff.
He says that they're ready to prove them all wrong.
"You're looking at an offensive coordinator that has won two [FCS] national championships in a row," Braun said. "I was fortunate recently to win two [FCS] national championships at North Dakota State."
That's not all. Tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Paul Creighton coached for Washington in the national championship game earlier this year. Defensive line coach Christian Smith was with Lujan in 2022 for Lujan's first title at South Dakota State. Assistant head coach and safeties coach Harlon Barnett was a GA for LSU's 2003 national championship team and was co-defensive coordinator for Michigan State when they made the College Football Playoff in 2015.
"On our coaching staff, in our building, we have a bunch of winners," Braun said. "In recruiting, we're bold. We know people are going to attack us in those areas, 'It's a young staff, it's a bunch of FCS guys, this and that.'
"And we [respond]: this is how many national championships are on staff. How many bowl wins are on staff. How many conference championships. At the end of the day, that matters, and we have a staff full of winners."
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Even on a staff full of winners, no one has won at Lujan's clip. The 29-year-old won 29 games in two seasons for the Jackrabbits, with his only loss coming in his debut, at Iowa, in 2022.
As a former North Dakota State Bison, Braun had to grit his teeth and set aside old rivalries in the hiring process. While Lujan and Braun have both won two FCS national titles, Lujan is 2-0 in head-to-head matchups when they were both coordinators.
"What you quickly realize is that your hires are critical," Braun said. "You better hire the right people around you and trust them to crush their job... I'm very familiar with Zach. Some of my largest headaches came trying to defend his offenses."
Braun emphasized that his hire of the prodigal play caller wasn't because of a silver-bullet system. Rather, it's a lack of a system that attracted him.
"I've been so impressed with his ability to really identify the strengths of the personnel for the team and individuals, and tailor the scheme to fit that," Braun said. "That's what we need at Northwestern...
"Not changing the playbook, not changing who you are, but tailoring game plans to make sure that you emphasize strengths and lean into those strengths."
Two strengths offensively will be running back Cam Porter and wide receiver AJ Henning.
"From early talks and talks this summer, he's been great," Henning said. "He truly wants to get his playmakers in space and we have a lot of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball...
"He's a guy who's not afraid to take shots, not afraid of a little trickery. He's got a lot up his sleeve and it's been really fun learning the new offense."
Porter echoed Henning and said the youthful Lujan has the potential to be the shot in the arm this team has long needed on offense.
"Coach Lujan's offense, I'm loving it...," said Porter, who is starting his fifth year in Evanston. "I'm really excited to see what he brings this year with the young mind that he has. i think he's excited to take risks and find ways to get his playmakers the ball in space."
Lujan is less than a decade departed from his own college career at Chabot College and then South Dakota State. That enables him to connect with players in a way that's irreplicable for many offensive coordinators at this level.
Still, there's no doubt on the field or on the sidelines what his role is now.
"I think sometimes [his connection with players] is misunderstood as he's just a cool guy," Braun said. "No. Zach is going to get to know you as a person, and then he's going to coach you really hard...
"I've been impressed about a lot of things since hiring him but his development of the quarterback room, and those guys fundamentally, empowering them to make convicted decisions is something I've been really impressed with."
Tim McGarigle, elder statesman. That's hard to imagine, but that's the reality as Northwestern's all-time leading tackler is set to turn 41 in October.
He is now the only coach on the staff that has been at Northwestern for more than a year, if you can believe that. He started as linebackers coach in 2018, 13 years after he last suited up in purple and eight years after his pro career ended.
Braun leaned on McGarigle heavily as he wore both head coach and defensive coordinator hats last season. So don't expect any serious swings in schematics this year as McGarigle takes the reins by himself.
One of the keys to maintaining that consistency year to year will be linebacker Xander Mueller, who is back for a fifth season. Mueller has worked with McGarigle since he came to Northwestern in 2020 and can't wait to cap off his career in purple showing what McGarigle can do as a play caller.
"Every year you get more and more comfortable with the terminology and how to explain it," Mueller said about his bond with his new DC.
Northwestern's staff on the defensive side of the ball was exceptional last season, with Braun and McGarigle leading the way. It has only been strengthened by the shift in responsibilities and an offseason to get on the same page.
"I couldn't be more excited about our defensive staff," Braun said. "The guys that are in that room, every time I step into it, I think: man, we are well-coached.
"Tim's passion for Northwestern and his understanding of this place are things that are incredibly valuable."
The Wildcat defense was exceptional down the stretch of last season, allowing fewer than 20 points in five of the last six games. Braun made it clear that, even after the banner ending, McGarigle has set straight to work on fine-tuning the unit and setting standards even higher.
"We can continue to improve on taking the ball away," Braun said. "How do we win at Northwestern? We value the ball, we protect it on offense and you take it away on defense...
"We can continue to take the ball away more and there's no one better in the country than Tim McGarigle to emphasize that."
Northwestern went 8-5 in 2023, a year after the team went 1-11 in Fitzgerald's final seasons. In past seasons, that may have meant contract extensions for the entire staff.
But this is a new era. Braun made five changes to a bowl-winning staff and is betting on a fresh, young core to lead the Wildcats into their next generation. In addition to Lujan, McGarigle, Creighton, he also brought in veterans like Barnett and offensive line coach Bill O'Boyle.
Every head coach sang his coordinators praises at Big Ten Media Days, but Braun believes that, once the talking stops and the season starts on Aug. 31, everyone will see the hunger, the focus and the humility of his staff on display.
"Hiring a bunch of guys that are low ego, high output, I think that's a strength of mine," he said. "I tend to like to process information but I'm not afraid to make decisions. When I do, I have conviction, and there's a why.
"This happened the other day in a conversation with our staff. I made a decision and, literally, an hour later, I'm putting my hand up like, 'Guys, that was a stupid decision. It's time to pivot.'
"My hope is that our staff embodies that and makes convicted decisions. There has to be a why behind everything. And when you make a decision and realize it wasn't a good one? Swallow your pride and pivot."
