Northwestern Pro Day Notebook
EVANSTON-It was an exciting day at Walter Athletics Center as three Wildcats went through their Pro Day: quarterback Ben Bryant, linebacker Bryce Gallagher and wide receiver Cam Johnson.
The trio of Wildcats is a smaller crop of pro hopefuls than usual, a reflection of the transfer portal and retention in the era of COVID waivers and NIL.
Twenty-nine of 32 NFL teams were reportedly in the building, though all three Wildcat prospects are projected to try and catch on as undrafted free agents. There were also 26 local prospects who worked through some of the drills.
The workouts and drills went fairly seamlessly for all three Wildcats, though results are not disclosed to the public. It would be difficult for a player to leap onto a draft board off of one workout, but each Wildcat got to show their stuff and talk to scouts.
Pro Day also served as the first time head coach David Braun has been in front of a microphone at Walter Athletics Center since the Las Vegas Bowl, and since then he's made a series of hires and promotions for new assistant coaches and support staff.
Here are our takeaways from what he and the players had to say:
Bryant back at 100%: Bryant was described all season by Braun as a warrior and rightfully so. He battled through a shoulder injury on his throwing arm, missing four games in the middle of the season, and worked tirelessly to return when Braun said he wouldn't have blamed Bryant had he shut himself down and started work to prepare for the draft.
Instead, Bryant went 4-0 in his four starts after his return, including winning the Land of Lincoln Trophy game over Illinois and the Las Vegas Bowl over Utah. Both trophies are now proudly displayed at Northwestern's facility.
Bryant said he has no lingering issues from the shoulder, or a series of hard hits he took in the bowl game, and is back to full health. He showcased his arm strength and accuracy during his throwing portion, and while there were a few drops from wide receivers, he put together an impressive array of throws across the field.
Wide receivers Johnson, Calvin Johnson II and Ricky Ahumaraeze, tight ends Thomas Gordon and Marshall Lang, and running back Cam Porter caught passes for Bryant.
Coco Azema and Bryce Kirtz confirmed to return: It has been strongly assumed that Coco Azema, a captain and starting safety, and Bryce Kirtz, the team's No. 2 receiver last season, would be back, as they had not declared for the NFL Draft or entered their names in the transfer portal. But Braun made it official on Wednesday.
"We anticipate those guys being back, absolutely," Braun said.
Defensive end Sean McLaughlin was also in attendance with the group of roughly 20 football players in the stands to cheer on their teammates.
Braun reiterated Northwestern's transfer targets: Since the end of last season, Braun has preached consistently an area of need: offensive line.
"The offensive line, we need to be active [in the portal] simply from a depth perspective," he said. "The young men practicing spring ball right now have the opportunity for a lot of reps under the tutelage of the new [offensive line] coach [Bill] O'Boyle."
Braun also had the chance to address starting safety Rod Heard II's departure, and the NIL system at large, and did so with a wisdom rarely heard from the ranks of college coaches.
"I don't know how much [of an impact NIL] played," he said on Heard leaving for South Bend. "What I can say is that Rod is leaving Northwestern with his degree, a Wildcat through and through. At the end of the day, if you're leaving this place with your degree, you've been the ultimate team guy, someone that really embodied what we ask of our guys...
"We have a lot of work to do in the NIL space but that parting... I love Rod Heard. I'm excited for his opportunity moving forward but our focus is going to continue to be on our guys here."
Braun added that they'll be evaluating existing talent in attempts to replace Heard, but has not ruled out looking in the portal after spring ball.
While notorious for running down the whole depth chart when asked about potential starting quarterbacks, he said Northwestern will be proactive in searching for a signal caller, as well.
"The priorities are depth on the O-line, a competition opportunity at the quarterback position, and then potentially the nickel spot," Braun said.
Brendan Sullivan, Ryan Hilinski, Jack Lausch and Aidan Gray are the QBs participating in spring practice.
Braun adjusting to first offseason, new hires: Braun hired or promoted coaches in five different assistant coaching roles, including both coordinators, since the end of the season. He said that his first offseason has been a whirlwind but he's working to stay on top of the labyrinth of tasks a head coach has between seasons.
"A great piece of advice I received was, 'Dave, learn how to control your schedule, don't have your schedule control you.' More than days...my schedule is controlling me so I have a lot of work to do in that area," Braun admitted.
"I'm really excited about this group that we're putting together... It's a rapidly changing landscape. 'Well, we've always done it this way.' That's great, and it's great to evaluate that, but the landscape is so different. We have to evaluate everything that we do [in] scouting and recruiting, and the way that we're developing our student-athletes. It's a really exciting challenge."
One of the lead names in that group of coaching hires was the addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zach Lujan from South Dakota State.
"To be very honest, there wasn't much that excited me at first coming from South Dakota State," Braun said with a wry smile about the coordinator from his former rival when he was the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State.
The other splash hire was Harlon Barnett, who was Michigan State's interim head coach in 2023. He is coming in as Northwestern's assistant head coach and safeties coach this season.
"We're going to continue to work through that," Braun said on Barnett's role as AHC. "I can tell you he's going to be really active. What he navigated at Michigan State last year speaks to his character... He has experience in [the head] seat. He aspires to have an opportunity to head coach again, so he's always looking at things through that lens."
A lot of Braun's hires have come through connections. He coached at UC-Davis with new tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Paul Creighton. He faced off against Lujan at South Dakota State. He faced off against offensive line coach Bill O'Boyle at South Dakota, and even worked some of his camps back when he was a grad assistant at Winona State and O'Boyle was the head man at Chadron State.
Barnett was a brand new face.
"I didn't know Coach Barnett," Braun said. "So many of these guys, I had some interaction with prior. Before Coach Barnett stepped on campus for an interview, he and I had never had any in-person communication or interaction.
"And he just continued to blow us away with his character, his humility and his knowledge. He's going to be an incredible asset to our system."
Uncertainty around home venue does not faze the team: With the Aug. 31 season opener drawing ever closer, Northwestern is still without a stadium for any of its home games in 2024. There have been no shortage of theories, including recent buzz around the highly improbable idea of building a temporary stadium on the lakefront around Northwestern's practice field.
Regardless of where their home games end up while Ryan Field is rebuilt from the ground up, Braun has set to work.
"My number one responsibility is making sure our team is ready to go whatever that venue is," he said. "I'm excited about that challenge, and the other thing that is exciting about this is we have this incredible opportunity two years from now, moving to the new Ryan Field.
"But we have to do an incredible job of bridging that gap and building momentum towards that. And we have to prioritize, regardless of the venue, making sure we're doing a great job of involving our students, our campus community and our season ticket holders, to bridge that gap. Because two years from now, we need to ensure our fanbase is ready to roll on Saturday."