How Northwestern held its 2023 class together

Northwestern signing its best class of the Rivals era on Wednesday was impressive. That it came on the heels of a 3-9 season is remarkable.

But the fact that the Wildcats were able to hold the class together through a disastrous 1-11 2022 season is nothing short of astonishing.

Yet head coach Pat Fitzgerald said that he and his staff didn't do anything differently in recruiting this class. Nor did they change their tactics in retaining them.

"[We] just build relationships, build genuine ones that I think are authentic," said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said that he still sells the same things about Northwestern to recruits. His pitch doesn't change, no matter what happens on the field.

"We had a couple of tough seasons but we’ve had a pretty high level of consistency here on the field," he said. "National championship-level academics. A world-class facility. The best young men in the world…"

"We haven’t had the record we wanted, but we haven’t changed our character, we haven’t changed what we do and how we do it."

Northwestern's 2023 class is ranked 40th, the first time that the Wildcats have cracked the Top 40 nationally since Rivals started ranking classes in 2002. They landed 18 of their signees by the end of June and added just one, running back Caleb Komolafe, on signing day.

They lost just two commitments while posting the program's worst record in 33 years this past season. Defensive ends Ashton Porter and Mason Robinson were talented players that the Wildcats hated to lose, but most were expecting several more defections after the Wildcats lost 11 straight games.

We talked to four of the new Wildcats about what made them stay with the Cats through thin and thinner: two three-star defenders in linebacker Justin Cryer and defensive tackle Tyler Gant; and two three-star offensive linemen who will enroll at Northwestern in January in Jordan Knox and Dylan Senda.

This is what they had to say.

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MORE NSD COVERAGE: Northwestern's Class of 2023 l Breaking down the Class of 2023 l Comparing 2023 to Fitz's best classes l RB Caleb Komolafe signs with Northwestern after all l Dylan Senda was an ideal first commit for Northwestern

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Cryer: I knew that I was going to be apart of a rebuild. Obviously, seeing the team go 1-11 is pretty tough, and it makes you ponder some things. But once I came back up to campus, I felt right at home and I knew I made the right decision.

Gant: I’m staying with NU because I feel in love with the university as a whole. While choosing where I wanted to go college, it was a key aspect for me to choose a place that is best for me as a person, student and an athlete. And that place is still NU.

Knox: Of course no one wants to lose, but what kept me committed were the people. I’ve always loved the people at Northwestern, and I believe in those people enough to come in and work with them to turn this around. I feel like you will always have second thoughts when making this kind of life-changing decision, but you take into play more than one factor. I believe in this school, this administration, these coaches and, of course, my future teammates enough to know that we will be back. It also helps that a Northwestern University degree will due more than a little for someone in life.

Senda: I never had any second thoughts. I committed to Northwestern because it fits all my values and beliefs as a person. I'm coming back to my roots. I know when I committed, what my reasons were, and those haven't changed. I know that Northwestern is the school for me.

Cryer: They basically reemphasized their belief in me that i can become a special player and that im the perfect fit for that mike linebacker role in their defense.

Gant: Most of the conversations during the season were about me and how my senior year were going. And a lot of excitement about our class coming in next year.

Knox: Coaches were honest throughout the season. There isn’t much you can lie about when the product on the field just wasn’t positive, but I knew some changes would be made unfortunately, and none that directly impacted me but I knew that something was going to be done.

Senda: I talked to coaches on a weekly basis. I talked to Coach Fitz once a week, and Coach Anderson and I always talked on Sunday. I don't think they were ever really worried about me. I had been committed for so long. I don't think I showed any signs of worrying them, so they didn't feel like they needed to keep recruiting me.

Cryer: We talk all the time. We have a really tight bond, which I think is pretty unique because we are all scattered around the country. But the general consensus is that this class is capable of doing great things. And defensively, I believe we have the talent to become a top 10 defense in the country.

Gant: There was a lot of communication in the group chat, just letting each other know that if we stick together we can be special.

Knox: Me and the guys constantly stayed in touch and were positive throughout the season, and also took into perspective that this is Northwestern’s best-ever recruiting class and that means something to us. We know we can come in and have an impact. Northwestern does not lack talent. We just have to be better at what we do, and do it at the highest level possible.

Senda: You could tell the guys who decommitted were more distant. They weren't as active in the group chat, so you could kind of tell. But for the most part, everybody was locked in. That's the values of the program and the culture that Coach Fitz has built. Even during the season, those players came in and worked their butt off. That's why Northwestern is special.

Cryer: I heard from a couple schools, but I'm at peace with my decision.

Gant: A couple of schools reached out, but they knew that I was unlikely to flip. I love this class we got coming in.

Knox: Of course you will always have schools reaching out trying to get you to flip, especially when they see the program struggling like it did, but that didn’t really impact me, either. I was always taught as a kid that nothing is easy and we should never want the easy way out. If it was all the way in the ground, you would know. I still know this program can win, and will win with work.

Senda: There were a couple schools. A handful of them. But they could tell pretty quickly that I was 100% committed to Northwestern.

Cryer: We know we are a special group and we know were gonna bring home a lot of hardware back to Chicago.

Gant: I truly believe that we can turns things around. And I can’t wait to get to work with these guys.

Knox: I believe our class can come in and have an immediate Impact, but we will have to work well with the guys already there to become a special winning program again. I believe in this class, I believe in the returning players and I believe in this coach staff. I am ready to fight for Northwestern football. Go Cats.

Senda: The 2023 class is special. We have a bunch of players that are all really close and tight with each other. We're going to work hard, get in the film room, get in the weight room, and just keep getting better. We're going to bring that Big Ten championship back to Evanston.