Northwestern football is off to a busy offseason, and we’re not even two weeks removed from the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Like our men’s and women’s basketball tracker, we’ll also have a football offseason tracker so you
can follow all of the major updates to the program.
Inside NU will update this tracker throughout the 2026 offseason.
Transfers Out
Edge Anto Saka
(Jan. 4) — one year eligibility remainingSaka became the first Northwestern starter to enter the portal on Sunday evening. The redshirt junior amassed 12 sacks and 14 tackles for loss during his time in Evanston, and he has garnered some serious NFL hype. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Saka was considered a “viable NFL draft prospect” if he opted to forgo his remaining year of eligibility and declare for the draft.
Saka’s departure came no more than two hours after Northwestern defensive line coach Christian Smith left the ‘Cats to become the defensive ends coach at Penn State. Per On3’s Pete Nakos, Saka entered the portal with a “do-not-contact” tag, and it’s fair to predict that the Wildcat edge rusher will follow his former coach to Happy Valley. Saka also named the Nittany Lions as one of his top three schools as a high school recruit before committing to Northwestern.
David Braun told reporters in early December that he expected “almost 100%” of his players who had played “significant football” to return, and Saka’s departure qualifies as a surprise, even as it was expected that he would command interest from schools looking to add a talented edge rusher through the portal. Braun will face a real test in the coming weeks as newly christened All-Big Ten safety Robert Fitzgerald will certainly earn his fair share of outside interest as well.
Saka leaving still qualifies as “almost 100%” player retention. If Fitzgerald follows his teammate to the portal, Northwestern would need a serious transfer addition to salvage this offseason.
DB Evan Smith (Jan. 3) — one year of eligibility remaining
Smith entered the 2024 season as a starting cornerback before Josh Fussell’s breakout season forced him into a backup role. He played in 32 games for the ‘Cats over three seasons, racking up 42 tackles and an interception to seal Northwestern’s win over Miami (OH) in Week 1 of 2024.
OL Taton Chandler (Jan. 3) — three years of eligibility remaining
Chandler transferred in last winter after spending his true freshman season at Missouri. He was a three-star recruit out of high school.
DB Dillon Tatum (Jan. 1) — one year of eligibility remaining
Tatum played in 12 games for the ‘Cats after transferring in from Michigan State. Tatum was primarily a safety in East Lansing, but he featured mostly as a slot corner and a special teamer with the ‘Cats. He finished the 2025 campaign with 17 total tackles and a pass defended.
RB Albert Kunickis (Dec. 29) — one year of eligibility remaining
Kunickis enters the portal as a graduate transfer. The Illinois native, who was born without his right hand and forearm, was one of the best stories on the Wildcat roster and a 2024 finalist for the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award.
OL Hayden Wright (Dec. 15) — four years of eligibility remaining
Wright announced his intention to enter the portal shortly after Northwestern inked six new offensive linemen in the Class of 2026. He was a three-star recruit out of high school.
Transfers In
OT David Anchondo, Saginaw Valley State (Dec. 11) — two years of eligibility remaining
The former D-II offensive tackle is Northwestern’s first and only portal addition thus far. Anchondo told 247Sports that he had also heard from Western Kentucky and Iowa State in his recruitment process. He is a raw prospect, having only played a single year of high school football in Mexico, but Anchondo is a physical monster at 6-foot-8, 310 lbs.
Coaching Hires
Tight ends coach Bob Bicknell (Jan. 3)
Bicknell comes to Northwestern after working with Kelly as the senior offensive assistant of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. With his addition, NU’s Paul Creighton’s role will be reduced to just the special teams coordinator after he was previously a tight ends coach as well.
Quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel (Jan. 3)
Neuheisel’s addition is Northwestern’s splashiest position coach hire of the offseason so far. After UCLA fired Tino Sunseri early in the 2025 season, Neuheisel stepped in as interim offensive coordinator. He was best known for helping the Bruins orchestrate an upset over then-No. 7-ranked Penn State, turning around their season after a 0-4 start. After Zach Lujan took both the OC and QBs coach roles, Northwestern will now have an exclusive quarterbacks coach.
Offensive line coach Tim Drevno (Jan. 2)
After O’Boyle’s departure, Drevno comes in to replace him – the first addition of the Kelly coaching tree. He spent time with Kelly at UCLA and Ohio State, working as the O-Line coach at the former school and an offensive quality control coach at the latter. This past season, he worked as an offensive consultant with Texas.
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly (Dec. 30)
The hire that started a domino effect of offensive coaching changes was Chip Kelly, who brought with him several years of NFL and college coaching experience from teams like the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State. Kelly was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Raiders during the 2025-26 NFL season.
Coaching Departures
An asterisk indicates that the hire is not official yet.
Safeties coach Harlon Barnett (expected to be hired by Pitt, Jan. 5)
Per CBS Sports, Harlon Barnett is expected to be hired by Pitt, becoming Northwestern’s second defensive position coach departure in 24 hours. With Barnett leaving, all eyes are on star safety Fitzgerald, whose retention will be a top priority for Braun and co.
Defensive line coach Christian Smith (expected to be hired by Penn State, Jan. 4)*
Shortly before Saka entered the transfer portal, several media outlets reported Smith’s departure from Evanston to Happy Valley. He spent three seasons with the Wildcats and coached players like Saka and 2024 All-Big Ten honorable mention selection Aidan Hubbard.
Offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle (hired by San Diego State, Dec. 31)
After two seasons with the Wildcats, O’Boyle will head to San Diego State to serve as its offensive line coach. O’Boyle helped lead Northwestern’s O-Line to a 25th overall national ranking in 2025, per Pro Football Network. He also coached NFL hopeful Caleb Tiernan and All-Big Ten honorable mention Evan Beernsten.
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Zach Lujan (not re-signed, Dec. 30)
By virtue of Kelly’s hire, Lujan will not return to Northwestern for the 2026 season. He led the Wildcats’ offense during the 2024 and 205 seasons.
