The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for Northwestern football fans.

The Wildcats won the Big Ten West and appeared in the conference championship game for the second time in three years on Dec. 19. They held the lead on Ohio State until nearly the end of the third quarter before eventually losing to the CFP finalists, 22-10. Then, they knocked off Auburn 35-19 in the VRBO Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.

But those highs have gotten lost under by a tsunami of change that hit the program at the same time. Athletic director Jim Phillips announced he was leaving to take the ACC commissioner’s job. Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz is retiring. After the Ohio State game, seven Wildcat players announced their intention to transfer.

As if all that wasn’t enough, last Sunday an ESPN report surfaced stating that head coach Pat Fitzgerald was willing to listen to overtures from the NFL.

For a program that prides itself on stability and continuity, it’s been jarring. It would be akin to the state of Georgia electing a pair of Democratic senators. (Whoops, bad example.)

Let us put your minds at ease, Purple Nation. There’s no need to hit the panic button. Not yet, anyway. The Wildcat program is doing just fine, and we don’t expect Fitzgerald to go anywhere.

Many fans look at the rash of transfers as signs that Fitzgerald is on the way out. Add the fact that Phillips, the boss he has worked so well with over the last 13 years, is leaving, and we admit that it can be viewed as a compelling argument for his imminent departure.

But Fitzgerald turned down interviews for plum jobs like Michigan, Notre Dame and the Packers over the years. We don’t see the Lions, Falcons or Texans swaying him this time around.

We maintain that the only NFL franchise that might – might – one day get him to leave Northwestern is the Chicago Bears. But not now, while Fitzgerald’s sons are still in school and he’s just a few years from coaching his oldest, Jack. (Besides, the Bears making the playoffs probably ensured that they will stick with Matt Nagy.)

Regardless of what happens, though, the transfers and Fitzgerald have nothing to do with each other. Players aren’t jumping ship because the captain is on the way out. They are leaving for a variety of reasons, but most are related to playing time and/or a desire to be closer to home – an understandable reason at any time, and even more so during this COVID-19 era.

Three of the transfers – Isaiah Bowser, Eku Leota and Kyric McGowan – are all graduates who will depart with their Northwestern degrees in hand. They fulfilled their goals both on and off the field, so fans should tip their caps and wish them well.

Also consider the landing places of the three who have committed to other schools so far. The two Arizona natives, safety Gunner Maldonado and running back Drake Anderson, are going to the University of Arizona; while McGowan, a Georgia native, is going to Georgia Tech. Those were clearly cases where the players wanted to return to their home states. We wouldn’t be surprised if wide receiver Malik Washington also winds up closer to his home, in Georgia.

For several of the transfers, playing time was an issue. Running backs Bowser and Anderson probably saw limited reps in their futures due to the emergence late in the season of freshman Cam Porter as NU’s bell cow. Safety Jeremiah McDonald moved to linebacker and probably didn’t see a clear path to playing time, either.

While fans can lament those losses, they can collectively be seen as positive signs of the upward trajectory of recruiting in recent years. There are more talented, young players in the program now, making playing time tougher to come by, even for veterans. Another good sign: all three players who announced their commitments are landing at Power Five programs.

Plus, just take a look around at what's going on across the country. Northwestern isn’t alone experiencing losses in this new era of college free agency. Michigan has 10 players in the portal, Penn State nine, and Iowa and Nebraska seven apiece. Twitter timelines are filled with players entering the portal on just about a daily basis.

There is understandable concern among fans that all of the announcements so far have been from Northwestern players on the way out. There haven’t been any about guys on the way in. Rest assured that there will be. Northwestern is already very active in the transfer market, according to sources, and there could be news coming soon.

Right now, the program is an attractive option to potential transfers. The lure of a Northwestern degree is there, as usual. But now the Wildcats can sell two Big Ten West title in three years; a New Year’s Day bowl win, their fourth in a row; and a state-of-the-art, $270-million practice facility. It’s a pretty good landing spot.

Northwestern also has a pretty good track record in the transfer market. Grad transfers played vital roles in the team’s success this season. Quarterback Peyton Ramsey (Indiana) is probably the Wildcats' best grad transfer of all time and was the biggest difference maker on the team this season. Tight end John Raine (FAU) was the third-leading receiver. Punter Derek Adams, who has announced that he is coming back, was a valuable weapon and the Wildcats’ third straight grad-transfer starting punter.

Fitzgerald and his staff have proven they can land impact players. We expect that to continue.

The coach’s most important target is not a transfer, however. It’s Ramsey. Sources are tight-lipped about the QB’s status, but Fitzgerald took the unusual step of calling on Northwestern fans in the Twittersphere to lobby for Ramsey to stay. If Ramsey winds up staying for his sixth year overall and second at NU, he will be the biggest “get” of this offseason for the Wildcats.

In any event, there is still upheaval to come. An AD has to be hired. Fitzgerald has to replace a coordinator for the second straight year. There are at least seven more scholarship slots they have to fill, in addition to a couple left over for the Class of 2021. The short-term and long-term success of the program will be largely shaped by these next few weeks and months.

But as long as the guy in the flat-top is out there calling the shots, Northwestern football will be in a pretty good place.