Northwestern’s expectations for the 2026 offseason changed drastically with the hiring of Chip Kelly as its offensive coordinator early Tuesday morning.
The “offensive reset” that ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg
promised after Saturday’s bowl game victory is here. Reinvention may be a better word.
Out goes Zach Lujan. Best of luck, thank you for your service, goodbye.
In comes one of the most prolific offensive minds in college football and the architect of four top-20 scoring offenses over the past six seasons.
Head coach David Braun called the hiring a “program-defining change” in a statement. The old Northwestern doesn’t get guys like this.
Northwestern’s vacancy at quarterback has to be the next subject of the offensive reset/reinvention/rebirth. In my mind, the Chip Kelly hiring has three major implications on the future of the Wildcat quarterback room.
First, I’ll say here with confidence that Ryan Boe will NOT be the Week 1 starting quarterback. Northwestern did not spend however much it took to lure Kelly to Evanston — and away from Georgia Tech and North Carolina, per On3’s Pete Nakos — to trot out an unproved redshirt sophomore in the grand opening of its $860 million dollar stadium. His time may come, but it’s not now.
On the subject of money, Kelly’s hiring is an indication that Northwestern is upping its game in the financial department. The pool of portal quarterbacks feels expanded, purely from a budget perspective. I still wouldn’t expect Northwestern to shell out the $3-4 million it would take to grab a top name — think Drew Mestemaker from North Texas or Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati — but again, Northwestern doesn’t hire Kelly and cheap out at the most important position in football.
Perhaps most importantly, the Kelly pedigree will be an allure for portal quarterbacks. Regardless of Kelly’s tenure as the offensive coordinator for the 3-13 Las Vegas Raiders, he is a well-respected NFL mind with five years of professional experience — including four years as a head coach — running a plethora of different offensive schemes.
On the college level, Kelly is on the shortlist of the top offensive minds of the 21st century. He won a national championship calling plays at Ohio State in 2024. In six seasons at Oregon (two as OC, four as head coach), the Ducks finished no worse than 11th in the country in total scoring offense. In six seasons as the head coach at UCLA, the Bruins finished outside the top 20 only once. Northwestern will be the toughest challenge of his college coaching career in terms of personnel, as the ’Cats have finished with a bottom-six scoring offense in all of college football three times in the last five seasons.
The scheme diversity is an important detail here. When Northwestern hired Zach Lujan from South Dakota State two years ago (I was high on that hire as well, for the record), the Reader’s Digest scouting report was that Lujan is most comfortable running a run-heavy offense with a dual-threat quarterback. Whether or not that was a fair evaluation at the time, it was the only offense that the then 28-year-old coordinator had led at the time. Needless to say, that inexperience or scheme fit will not be a concern with Chip Kelly.
Now comes the hard part: the now-annual winter tradition of predicting Northwestern’s newest transfer portal quarterback.
Braun has brought in a graduate transfer in each of his first three years at the helm, and experience has to be the number one quality for the quarterback who will open up the new Ryan Field. It’s possible Braun brings in a guy with multiple years of eligibility remaining, but I’d be shocked if NU signs a quarterback without real starting experience at the collegiate level.
A quick disclaimer before the list. I wrote this same article last year, and Preston Stone didn’t make my top five. The first spot went to Missouri transfer Aidan Glover, who ended up at Northwest Mississippi Community College. He still has a bright future, I swear. It’s an inexact science, but I’m a not a great scientist. I like my odds to do better this time around.
1. Jaden Craig, Harvard
Don’t be fooled by the school. Craig is an elite quarterback prospect who would be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft if he chose to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility. The two-time Walter Payton award finalist threw for 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2025 to lead the Crimson to an Ivy League title.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper had Craig as his No. 8 quarterback prospect in the draft ahead of Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss and USC’s Jayden Maiava before Craig made his decision to stay in college clear. Among the list of realistic names, Craig would be a home run.
2. Marcus Stokes, West Florida
Stokes is the only portal quarterback that has been formally linked to Northwestern thus far. Pete Nakos reports that the race for the former four-star recruit will include Florida State, Syracuse and Iowa, in addition to the ‘Cats.
Stokes was initially committed to Florida, but the Gators revoked his offer after a video surfaced of him saying a racial slur while singing the lyrics to a song. He landed at West Florida, a Division II program, and he finished 2025 as a finalist for the DII Heisman with a stat line of 3,297 yards, 30 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Stokes has two years of eligibility remaining.
3. Dylan Lonergan, Boston College
The former Alabama recruit leads the list of good-stat, bad-team options in this portal class. Lonergan committed to the Crimson Tide as a four-star prospect out of high school but failed to see any meaningful playing time in two years in Tuscaloosa. In his lone season at BC, the Golden Eagles finished with a paltry 2-10 record, but Lonergan’s 2,025 passing yards and 12 touchdowns kept the overmatched ACC competitive.
Against No. 16 Georgia Tech, Lonergan tossed 365 yards and two scores in a narrow 36-34 loss. He put up 390 and four scores in a 2OT loss to Michigan State.
Lonergan checks a lot of boxes as a veteran with starting experience and multiple years of eligibility remaining.
4. Katin Houser, East Carolina
Houser fits the Ben Bryant-Preston Stone mold as a Group of Five standout looking to finish his career at a Power Four program. He also has the best resume of the three.
Houser began his career at Michigan State, where he started seven games as a redshirt freshman before the arrival of Aidan Chiles from Oregon State pushed him to the portal. In 2025 at ECU, Houser lit up the American Athletic Conference with 3,300 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns to just six interceptions. He also added nine more touchdowns on the ground.
Facing NC State in what would be his lone game against P4 competition this season, Houser passed for 364 yards and a score in a 24-17 loss.
The East Carolina product will garner ton of P4 interest and would be higher on this list if he hadn’t already been tied to Arkansas. Still, Chip Kelly should ensure that Northwestern at least makes a go at the talented senior.
5. Billy Edwards Jr. Wisconsin
Edwards Jr. is the least sexy name on this list, but the former Badger is undoubtedly a Big Ten caliber quarterback. Northwestern took to the veteran gunslinger in 2024 while he was at Maryland, but his numbers from College Park were very solid: 2,881 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and nine picks while completing 65.0% of his passes.
Other names to watch
Redshirt sophomore Air Noland started his collegiate career with Chip Kelly at Ohio State in 2024 before transferring to South Carolina for the 2025 season. Noland was a high four-star prospect out of high school per 247Sports but was stuck behind two elite quarterbacks — Will Howard at OSU and LaNorris Sellers at South Carolina — during his first two seasons of college football. Northwestern would have to beat out some big name programs to land the lefty gunslinger, but the Kelly connection should have the ‘Cats in the game.
Lincoln Kienholz is another former Ohio State Buckeye who should be on Northwestern’s radar. Kienholz, who has two years of eligibility remaining, competed against Julian Sayin for the starting job in Columbus into August. The downside here is that he has yet to start a game at the college level, so Braun/Kelly will likely look to bring in an option with more experience.
Ethan Grunkemeyer from Penn State would be a fun get for the ‘‘Cats, but he’s also lacking in the experience category. Another former Nittany Lion — Beau Pribula — would have made my top five if he didn’t add a photo of his old team to his X header earlier this week. I like him to return to Happy Valley after a year at Missouri, but if former Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht follows Matt Campbell to Penn State, Northwestern should jump at the chance to add Pribula.
