Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald held a Zoom call with the media on Wednesday. Here are our five takeaways:

More opt-outs coming: By far the biggest news of the virtual press conference was that the Wildcats will have more opt-outs in addition to Rashawn Slater this season.

Slater, the starting left tackle and a potential first-round draft pick next spring, announced in August that he was opting out of the 2020 season. Fitzgerald said on Wednesday that more Wildcat players have also decided not to play in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The coach did not specify which players have opted out but said that the program will be releasing names in the coming days.

The OL is OK: With Slater opting out and center Jared Thomas graduating, Northwestern lost two starters from last year’s offensive line. Then, just last week, the program announced that guard Sam Stovall, who was likely in line to start this year, was retiring due to injuries.

While there is concern about the players lost, Fitzgerald pointed to the returning starters who are back to lead the unit – Gunnar Vogel, Nik Urban, and Sam Gerak – as reasons for optimism.

He also likes the competitive depth in the room and the number of players battling for jobs.

“I see great leadership up there in that group,” Fitzgerald said. “I probably see as competitive a room as maybe we’ve had. There are about 12 guys competing right now to play, and we’ll see how that transpires over the next two and a half weeks.”

Balancing act: Fitzgerald used the phrase “steal a percent” multiple times throughout his press conference, referring to lowering the number of positive COVID-19 tests – and hopefully keeping that rate at zero.

He said that Northwestern’s staff is doing everything they can to try and keep the team as healthy as possible. One precaution they are taking is conducting team meetings over Zoom. When the full squad meets, they no longer do it in the cavernous team meeting room built just for that purpose in the Walter Athletic Center. Instead, they do it over the Internet. He also said that he’s been talking to coaches at other programs that have been playing already to glean some lessons learned.

Fitzgerald’s job is to weigh the need for safety against the need to get the team physically prepared for the opener against Maryland on Oct. 24. The limited practice opportunities have made it a challenge.

“The balance is the physical side of it, to make sure your guys are ready physically, having enough contact but not too much contact,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s a delicate balance, but our guys are our guide, and we usually work pretty diligently to having conversations with how our guys are feeling about where we’re at with things.”

Coaching contingency plans: Fitzgerald also harped on the word “fluid” on Wednesday. More than any other season, depth is especially important in 2020. And that’s not limited to just the players on the field.

Coaches also need to be ready to step into different roles if another coach is unable to fulfill his duties due to illness.

Fitzgerald said that he and his staff are going over contingency plans for just such developments.

“We’ve had all those types of discussions,” Fitzgerald said. “If I end up unfortunately getting the virus and I can’t coach for two weeks, we’ll kick into that plan.

“What happens if (offensive coordinator) Mike Bajakian or (defensive coordinator) Mike Hankwitz or (special teams coach) Jeff Genyk end up having an issue, boom, we go into this plan.

“We’ve kind of talked it through each specific position coach on exactly how we would execute and adjust, so we’ve got plans in place for that.”

Hitting 100: Fitzgerald currently sits at 99 career wins as the Wildcats head coach, already the most in school history. His next win will be a big one: No. 100.

It seemed like Fitzgerald was destined to hit the century-mark in 2019, but the disappointing three-win campaign left him one short. He said it’s special to look back at all the great players he’s had the privilege of coaching on the way to this milestone.

But when he looks at winning game No. 100, he is more irked than elated.

“On a personal note, I’m kind of mad that it’s taken this long, as a competitor, quite frankly,” Fitzgerald said. “I look more at the other number (losses), and it really ticks me off that there’s probably about 50 games that we should have won that we didn’t. So that number is way too large.

“And in the next 101 wins, on our way to 200, I hope we get there a lot faster, and we don’t have those 50 games that drive me crazy”