Godwin Igwebuike will graduate from Northwestern with a bachelor’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change next year. But he will also be leaving Evanston with the equivalent of a master’s in safety play, according to head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

The redshirt junior from Pickerington, Ohio, has started 18 games in two seasons for the Wildcats. He spent his first two years learning the ropes from Ibraheim Campbell, a four-year starter now playing for the Cleveland Browns. He was also tutored by Traveon Henry, a three-year starter who was his safety partner at the back of the Wildcats’ defense last season and graduated last spring.

Fitzgerald doesn’t think a safety can ask for a much better education than that.

“You just think of the maturation of a player, and you think about just how fortunate Godwin has been since he’s been here,” said Fitzgerald. “He’s a young guy, he’s learning from Ibraheim Campbell, who’s going to start in the National Football League (and) Traveon, being a multi-year starter and gets a shot to go play on Sunday. To see the intangibles of the safety position, you’re not going to find it better from two better role models.

“The work ethic, the commitment, the teammates those guys were to everybody -- especially in the secondary, but to everybody. That quarterback of the defense-type mentality that a safety has to have, Godwin has learned from two great, great players in our program’s history, and you see that now happening for him.”

Igwebuike thinks that each of his two mentors taught him different things, which makes sense considering how different their personalities were. Campbell, a quiet type that didn’t show much emotion, taught him how hard he would have to work to be successful at the college level. Henry, a gregarious and outgoing player, showed him how passion could impact his performance.

“Ibraheim, I didn’t get much time with him,” said Igwebuike. “He’s much older than me. I got to play with him a little bit. But his work ethic was something crazy. Something I’d never seen before, especially coming from the high school setting. Here was somebody really set on his goals and set on making it. Seeing that really changed the way I looked at working out. I thought I was a hard worker in high school and even when I came here, but to see the way they stepped it up took it to another level and opened my eyes exactly what it takes to be great.”

As for Henry, Igwebuike says, “I loved his passion. He always had passion for what he said. I believe that if you have passion in what you’re doing, if you’re having fun while doing it and you’re giving 100-percent, that’s when you really start to make those strides. Whether it be out at practice, in the indoor (facility) just running, in the weight room, he always brought that passion.“

Igwebuike is a bit like both of those players. He is rather reserved by nature, like Campbell. But when he speaks his eyes light up and his body language becomes animated, like Henry.

Like any good student, Igwebuike has shown the ability to apply the knowledge imparted to him by his mentors. In his very first start, as a redshirt freshman against Wisconsin in 2014, Igwebuike picked off three passes to become the first Wildcat to accomplish that feat since Neal Little in 1973. Last year, his first as a full-time starter, the 6-foot, 200-pounder tallied 87 tackles, more than anyone but Anthony Walker, Northwestern’s All-America candidate at middle linebacker. Igwebuike made a career-high 14 tackles against Tennessee in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.

This year, however, Igwebuike is the most experienced safety and will make the transition from student to teacher. Where he once relied on Campbell or Henry to make calls or align players on defense, it’s now his responsibility.

Fitzgerald has noticed that Igwebuike has been more vocal and that he isn’t afraid to hold his teammates accountable, either.

“Now it’s his turn,” said Fitzgerald, who is entering his 11th season in Evanston. “He’s going to be the guy making all the checks, he’s going to be the guy being the quarterback. He’s that guy now.

“You saw him getting a little bit out of his comfort zone in speaking up more in the offseason and challenging people. He’s just not that kind of guy (normally). He’s always been more of a lead-by-example, with a lot of passion. But that’s not his role now and I’ve seen great growth from him in that area.

“He’s always been a talented guy, and now to see the student of the game start to increase, the individual accountability from a standpoint of, ‘I’m not only going to show you the right way, I’m going to tell you when you’re doing it the right way and be excited for you, and I’m also going to tell you when you’re not doing it the right way and hold you accountable.’ Just becoming the complete leader of the secondary. That’s been fun to watch. And he’s got a pretty good partner in crime there with (senior cornerback) Matthew Harris, so he doesn’t have to do it alone. That, I think, is really going to help both of those guys in terms of playing with each other.”

Igwebuike agrees that he has changed his tactics.

“I have tried to take some strides toward being more vocal,” he said. “A lot of times, being an underclassman, it’s not your place. But having a lot of our vocal leaders depart last season, I knew that we knew some new voices to be heard and I knew that if I have something to say, I’m going to say it.

“We have a lot of other guys that have been a lot more vocal as well, between AC (Austin Carr), Matt Harris, Anthony (Walker) being more vocal. I’m not the kind of person that always wanted to be heard, but if it needs to be said, I’m going to speak up, and more so being someone that my teammates can come to for advice and things like that.”

Maybe Igwebuike’s louder voice will help him get some love from the media, too.

Walker and running back Justin Jackson are the Northwestern players getting a lot of attention this preseason – and deservedly so, as both may be the best at their positions in the Big Ten. Igwebuike, meanwhile, gets very little. That’s despite the fact that he may be the best all-around athlete on the team, a fast, physical safety who can deliver a big hit.

But the lack of a superhero promotional campaign (Walker) or catchy nickname among students (Justin Jackson the Ballcarrier) doesn’t bother Igwebuike. He figures that if he plays well, the recognition will come.

“Last year I didn’t get any accolades from the Big Ten. People say, ‘I can’t believe that,’” he said. “But for me, I know what I’m capable of… I want to be the best safety in the country. The accolades might not always show that but I know my teammates trust me and my teammates know what I’m capable of, my coaches know what I’m capable of and I know what I’m capable of. I’m just out here to be the best I can be.”

Fitzgerald and Northwestern are looking forward to seeing just how good Igwebuike’s best is.