We’ve closed the chapter of 2025 and have now kicked off a brand new year. As 2026 begins, Northwestern Athletics will have a big 365 days ahead of it, one which will consist of two stadium grand openings, a Final Four hosting opportunity, a major coaching hire to make and high-stakes seasons across several programs. Here are five New Year’s resolutions that Inside NU thinks Northwestern should aim for in the next year.
Keep current talent on the football team, but nail the offensive overhaul
This resolution was already underway before 2026 began, with Northwestern making
a major hire in offensive coordinator Chip Kelly just days after winning the GameAbove Sports Bowl. That’s the first and most important step in the program’s offeseason improvement plan (which is especially needed on offense), but there’s still much more that needs to be done.
The most obvious next step is getting an experienced quarterback out of the transfer portal, which seems more preferrable than going with Ryan Boe at starter next season. Inside NU’s Harris Horowitz talks more about this issue in his article about possible transfer QB targets, but given that the Wildcats’ fate has fallen heavily on the quarterback’s shoulders in recent years, picking the right fit is extremley important. With head coach David Braun saying that major offensive changes will be coming beyond Kelly’s hire, Northwestern may also have to make important decisions regarding several positional coaching roles. And after standout seasons from players like Robert Fitzgerald and Griffin Wilde, both who have been described by college football media as someone with NFL potential, there’s always an opportunity to seek greener pastures. The addition of Kelly may sway someone like Wilde to stay, but when players are going in-and-out of the transfer portal more than ever, efforts will also have to be made for the ‘Cats to retain their top talent.
Develop better products to match facilities
This resolution feels like a vague ask rather than a clear action plan, but it’s hard not to discuss Northwestern’s 2026 without mentioning the new facilities being built in Evanston. At the center of it all is the Wildcats’ $862 million-dollar Ryan Field rebuild, which for three years has been touted as the most expensive stadium in college football. Set to open for the 2026 season, the field will certainly continue a trend of Northwestern making national headlines for its facilities, following two seasons of the college football world gushing over NU’s temporary lakefront field at Martin Stadium. The problem, however, was that the product by the home team was lackluster at worst and medicore at best, the stands often filled with fans of opposing Big Ten teams.
Sure, playing in these facilities will be a draw for recruits and transfers, but it will be far from the biggest deciding factor in today’s college football landscape. Anemic red zone play and barely getting above .500 in front of a small crowd will not reflect well on the program, no matter how good the stadium they are playing inside of looks. After all, the initial conversations about Ryan Field’s construction were not without controversy from Evansston residents, so poor football will almost certaintly raise conversations about whether putting so much in the stadium was worth it. Northwestern seems to understand this performance-related urgency that comes with investing in better facilities, as shown through the Kelly hire. But as much as the new stadium will be exciting for fans, its presence is a greater pressure point for the team, rather than a weight off its shoulder.
It’s worth mentioning that football won’t be the only team with a new facility in 2026 — Northwestern softball’s new $20 million-dollar Kirkpatrick Stadium is expcted to be finished in spring 2026. Softball’s facilities will fix the old Sharon J. Drysdale Field’s problem of having no lights or press box while expanding capacity from 800 to 1,326, moreso fulfilling important necessities rather than making a grandscale upgrade. However, it will also be interesting to see if these facilities help attract greater talent to Evanston.
Win the 2026 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship
Northwestern lacrosse head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller always has her eyes set on championship weekend, but this year’s Final Four means more, as it is set to take place at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. Northwestern was the first school outside the East Coast to win a national championship and has been a trailblazer for women’s lacrosse since the 2000s, so it’s only fitting that it will host the first men’s or women’s Final Four outside the Eastern Time Zone. Regardless of what happens, the event will be a great showcase for the program and the University, which has never hosted this high-stakes of a college sporting event in the 21st century. But it would be bittersweet, given Northwestern’s lacrosse blue blood status, if another school were hoisting the trophy on Evanston turf on May 24.
Amonte Hiller is clearly in “win-now mode,” acquiring four of the nation’s top transfer portal targets to supplement two-time Tewaaraton Award finalist Madison Taylor. But Northwestern is not the consensus top team right now — that title belongs to North Carolina, which is led by generational superstar Chloe Humphrey and handily beat the Wildcats in the 2025 NCAA title game (which was not as close as the 12-8 score suggested). Additionally, other programs like Boston College and Clemson (backed by its top recruiting class) will be in the conversation, too. Perhaps the Wildcats, understanding what a home national title will mean for the University, will use that as motivation to win as underdogs.
Get the women’s basketball hire right
In a few months, athletic director Mark Jackson will likely make the first head coaching hire of his tenure in Evanston, when longtime women’s basketball coach Joe McKeown retires at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. The NU women’s basketball team has not seen its best days lately, coming off three consecutive seasons with four or fewer Big Ten wins. It is now is currently amidst a seven-game losing streak. After beginning the decade with a Big Ten title and an NCAA Tournament appearance, the ‘Cats have become a total non-factor on the national and Big Ten scene. At the same time, women’s college basketball is bigger than ever and getting record viewership numbers, and the Wildcats are missing out on the wave.
As much as McKeown has accomplished with the ‘Cats, a fresh start could be exactly what the team needs to become competitive in the Big Ten again. Other schools across the country have proven this — most notably Arizona State, which is 14-0 to start the season with new hire Molly Miller after finishing 2024-25 with a 10-22 record. The Sun Devils’ conference rival, TCU, made the Elite Eight in coach Mark Campbell’s second season after a 15-year NCAA tournament drought. A head coach opening is Northwestern’s opportunity to turn things around the way ASU and TCU did, but it will require Jackson and co. to make the right choice and find someone who truly fits the program. With the growth of collegiate women’s sports as a whole, as well as Northwestern’s overall success in women’s athletics, it must find a way to throw its hat back into the ring for the women’s sport that garners the most national attention.
Develop a men’s basketball star(s) not-named Nick Martinelli
For the past two seasons, we have seen how much Northwestern men’s basketball relies on Nick Martinelli. As the Big Ten’s leading scorer for the 2024-25 season, who also is on pace to repeat that title this season, the senior has become both a basketball lynchpin and a leader for this rookie-heavy Wildcats squad. However, we saw what Northwestern’s offense looked like without Martinelli during its loss to Butler, and it wasn’t pretty. Arrinten Page didn’t play to his usual standards without Martinelli in the paint, and no player aside from Jayden Reid (who recorded 14 points) was in double figures. With Martinelli graduating next season, how the ‘Cats looked against the Bulldogs may be an insight into the future if Chris Collins and co. don’t develop the next star in line.
When Boo Buie graduated, it was clear that Brooks Barnhizer would take the mantle. Once Barnhizer went down with a season-ending injury, Martinelli had already been putting up numbers worthy of Northwestern’s head honcho. However, as the ‘Cats get into the thick of Big Ten play, someone with the potential to be Martinelli’s successor hasn’t emerged yet. Page showed star potential on both sides of the ball earlier in the season with his performances against DePaul, UVA and South Carolina, but raised concerns due to recent struggles and being benched by Collins for non-basketball reasons against Howard. Players like Reid, K.J. Windham and Max Green have had streaks of good play, but are inconsistent. Freshman Tre Singleton is coming off a career-high 17 points against Howard, but is unproven against a larger sample size of top competition. A lot of these aforementioned players have the potential to be volume contributors on the level of Martinelli, but haven’t quite shown it yet. That must happen if the ‘Cats want to remain competitive long-term when Martinelli leaves, and for them to have a fighting chance to make the NCAA Tournament with Martinelli.
