Northwestern continued its fortification of its offensive line with the addition of transfer center Talan Chandler on Friday, and Wildcat OL coach Bill O'Boyle is a big reason why.
Chandler, a redshirt freshman with four years of eligibility remaining, entered the transfer portal from Missouri on April 14. He announced his commitment to Northwestern on his April 25 visit to become the fourth player the team has brought in out of the portal to shore up its efforts in the trenches.
Chandler's relationship with O'Boyle goes back to his high school days at Nevada (Mo.). In 2023, Chandler initially committed to Colorado, where O'Boyle was the offensive line coach. But, as the Buffaloes struggled in head coach Deion Sanders' first season and Missouri intensified their recruiting efforts, Chandler flipped his commitment a month before Signing Day to the Tigers.
O'Boyle left Colorado after one season and was hired by Northwestern head coach David Braun for the 2024 season. His presence in Evanston was crucial to landing Chandler this time around.
"I've had a connection with Coach O'Boyle from when he recruited me at Colorado..." Chandler said. "He's an unbelievable person. He cares about the kids he has on his team, he loves football, he's very detail-oriented and driven... He's going to coach his ass off to push you to be the best you can be."
Chandler took two other visits -- one to former Colorado assistant Sean Lewis' San Diego State program and another to Tulane -- but he knew Northwestern was the place for him once he got there.
"Everything about the place, the facilities, the coaches, the culture...it was different than anywhere else I'd been, and that really stuck out to me," he said. "The coaches made me feel wanted, the players were easy to talk to and the culture stood out."
The other three offensive lineman Northwestern landed out of the portal this cycle are graduate transfers with one year remaining. Chandler, however, stands apart with four years of remaining eligibility. He appeared in just one game for the Tigers last season, against UMass.
There are no hard feelings for Chandler toward the Tigers, but he wanted a fresh opportunity where he felt he could better compete for playing time.
"I'm very grateful for my time at Mizzou. I'm very close with [head] coach [Eliah Drinkwitz] and [offensive line] coach [Brandon] Jones," he said. "But I believe in my abilities and I want to play... With the way things were aligned out there, I was just looking for a different opportunity."
Chandler comes into a battle for the Northwestern center position with a pair of veterans: graduate center Jack Bailey and redshirt senior Jackson Carsello. Bailey transferred in last year and was the starter before suffering a season-ending injury in the Week 4 game at Washington. Carsello stepped up to replace him for the rest of the season.
Nominally, that puts Chandler third on the depth chart with an inside line towards the starting gig in 2026 when Bailey and Carsello exhaust their eligibility, while Chandler would still have three years left.
But the coaches told him there is competition to be had right now, not just down the road.
"The thing they talked to me about is they're bringing me in to compete right away," he said. "They're not guaranteeing anything, obviously both of those guys are great players, they're in the Big Ten for a reason. But they said that I have got to come in, compete and it's up to me from there. They always say the best five [linemen] will play, and I have a chance to compete."
Chandler was listed at 6-foot-2 and 291 pounds in Mizzou's 2024 program and believes he has the skills necessary to fight for Big Ten snaps sooner rather than later.
"I'd say I'm very athletic, that's something that is my selling point. The coaches brought that up on my visit," Chandler said. "I'm nasty, I play with an edge, I want to dominate the man across from me. And I feel I'm very technical. I try to focus on my technique and I'm a pretty smart, high IQ football player."
Whether Chandler ends up cracking the lineup in his first season or not, there's bound to be a couple personal highlights when the team heads to the Friendly Confines.
"The campus is beautiful and everything [at Northwestern] is beautiful. I actually grew up a Cubs fan, so I'm excited," he said about the two games NU will play at Wrigley Field this upcoming season.
Hours after the addition of Chandler, Northwestern also had a departure in the portal from lineman Cooper Lovelace. Lovelace is pursuing another year of eligibility from the NCAA, which would be his seventh in college football. His exit brings the team's projected roster this fall back to 113 players.
While the preliminarily approved House Settlement would require teams to get down to 105 players when implemented, Judge Claudia Wilken's instructions last week before final approval said that parties must do more to accommodate players who would be harmed by the limits, casting doubt on the 105 number becoming a reality this season.
That remains to be determined, but either way, Northwestern's work on the offensive line in the portal may now be complete with the addition of Chandler.
