Report: Northwestern to hire Armon Binns as wide receivers coach

Northwestern has reportedly filled one of its three coaching vacancies.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg tweeted on Friday that Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald is expected to hire Armon Binns as the Wildcats' new wide receivers coach.

Binns, a former NFL player, spent last season as the wide receivers coach at Youngstown State. Prior to that, he was a quality control coach at Cincinnati, where he played in college from 2007-10. He has also held football staff positions at Notre Dame and Hampton in his career.

Binns was an incredibly productive wide receiver at Cincinnati, catching 138 passes for 2,008 yards and 21 TDs over his career. The 21 TDs are tied for fourth in Cincinnati history. Northwestern offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian was Binns' offensive coordinator for his final year at Cincinnati.

Binns played one season in the NFL, appearing in games for both the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins in 2012. He caught 24 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown in his career.

Before the 2013 season, Binns suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his knee that effectively ended his NFL career. He was later signed by the Kansas City Chiefs and the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks but didn't appear in any games.

Binns began his coaching career on coach Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame as an offensive analyst in 2018. In 2019, Binns was the wide receivers coach at Hampton before returning to Cincinnati as a quality control coach for the 2020 season. He spent two season at Cincinnati before moving to Youngstown State as a wide receivers coach last March.

Binns replaces Dennis Springer, who coached receivers at Northwestern for the past 11 seasons but was fired in November. Fitzgerald is still working to fill defensive coordinator and defensive line coach positions on his staff after letting go of Jim O'Neil and Marty Long, respectively, after the season.

The hiring of Binns comes as a bit of a surprise. Many expected the position to go to Bryan Gasser, a former college wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator who spent last season as a quality control analyst for the Wildcats.