Northwestern's secondary suffered a major blow on Wednesday when starting safety Jeremiah Lewis entered the transfer portal.
Lewis is the third Wildcat to enter the portal since the firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald on July 10, but he is the first one who was expected to start for the Wildcats.
A 5-foot-11, 197-pounder, Lewis transferred to Northwestern last year after four seasons at Duke. He started all 12 games for the Wildcats in 2022 and finished third on the team with 70 tackles. He added 3.0 TFL, four passes defensed and a fumble recovery.
Lewis was expected to start at safety this season alongside Coco Azema, a veteran who played in just three games in 2022 due to injury.
Northwestern's players have until Aug. 9 to enter the transfer portal because of a coaching change. Freshman linebackers Juice Cryer and Nigel Glover entered within the last eight days.
Fitzgerald, Northwestern's all-time winningest coach, was fired after 17 years as the result of an investigation into hazing at the school. He was initially suspended for two weeks on July 7, but school president Michael Schill reversed course and fired him three days later, after explosive hazing allegations were published in The Daily Northwestern.
Four players have since filed lawsuits against the Northwestern program for hazing incidents. Fitzgerald has also filed suit, citing the school for breach of contract for unilaterally deciding to terminate him after he says the two parties agreed to the suspension.
