Thank you for all of your questions for the fall mailbag, both from the site and from X! We tried to respond to all of them to the best of our abilities down below.
From AyanKB: What is the minimum record/performance for Northwestern in 2025 for David Braun to be the head coach in 2026?
Harris: I don’t think that Braun’s seat is as hot as you think it is, but I agree that there are real stakes for his third year at the helm, especially given the increased investment in the program with the hiring of
general manager Christian Sarkisian and the $16-17 million available through the House settlement. Four wins may be good enough for Braun to keep his job but that’d be contingent on his team’s competitiveness. Another year of blowout losses to teams like Michigan and Iowa would be hard to stomach for the Northwestern brass ahead of the ribbon cutting for the $862 million Ryan Field.
I’d still be surprised to see Northwestern go in a different direction even if, say, the season ends in a blowout road loss to Illinois — which is very much in the realm of possibilities given the strength of this year’s Illini squad.
Miguel: It would have to be a particularly bad season for Braun to be in danger of losing his spot in Evanston. The ‘Cats have a really tough schedule this year — including four games against ranked opponents, so the expectation shouldn’t be too high despite the clear improvements that this roster has made, at least on paper. Even if Northwestern finishes with four or five wins this year, I think Braun’s position as the long-term head coach of this team remains relatively secure. For me, a truly abysmal season — akin to Purdue’s 1-11 season in 2024 or Indiana’s 3-9 season the year prior — would prompt a consideration of a change at the helm of the program.
Yanyan: Everything that Harris and Miguel said basically — I think significant regression from last season is the only way Braun is on the hot seat, especially considering that Northwestern’s schedule this year doesn’t have most fans in high hopes.
From Jaybird: What’s our expected NIL spend beyond the conference allocation, and how does it compare to the other teams in the conference?
Yanyan: I don’t know the exact numbers and I don’t think this is the answer that you’re looking for, but I will say that North Carolina women’s lacrosse coach Jenny Levy listed Northwestern, Clemson, and Florida as programs that have a lot of money in their arsenal when she was asked about spending money on NIL and the transfer portal. I’m not sure how much this translates to the entire athletic department (and quite frankly, I don’t think it does) or if it’s exclusive to lacrosse, but I still think it’s notable that NU was grouped with two other much bigger overall athletic programs.
Harris: I agree with Yanyan that this question is a hard one to answer. I don’t necessarily share the same optimism that Northwestern will be up there with schools like Clemson and Florida, at least when it comes to revenue sports. The newly established clearinghouse will make it harder for schools to continue with the most egregious pay-for-play payments, but the same programs (Ohio State, Michigan, etc.) that took advantage of the old system will find ways to take advantage of the new one.
Say that Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, for example, is paid a lump sum for a six-hour public appearance at a booster’s house in Columbus. The clearinghouse is going to have a very hard time proving: 1. that he was there for the whole six hours, 2. that the event was well attended and 3. that Ohio State’s assessment of the value of the appearance is at all accurate. Northwestern’s hiring of Christian Sarkisian as its general manager is a sign that the school is going to be more prepared for the House-era than it was for NIL, and revenue sharing will undoubtedly be an equalizer for the ‘Cats — especially when compared to schools outside of the Big Ten. I’m just not ready to say that anything substantial will change, at least in conference, until we see it.
Miguel: Not to sound too repetitive, but the honest answer is this is a complicated question that really boils down to the same issues the college athletics world has faced for ages — disparity. In terms of an exact number for NIL money, I am unsure of one, nor can I give an estimate. As for how it compares to other teams in the Big Ten, I’d piggyback off of Yanyan here in saying that it can depend on the sport — lacrosse, as she mentioned, is one that NU has a lot more money invested into — but that generally, the high-revenue sports will continue to be dominated (at least financially) by the upper echelon of the conference.
From NUDave: Will the new Ryan Field be ready in time to host the first home game of 2026?
Yanyan: I think it will be. It’s made some really good progress this summer (I’ll actually have an article coming out soon summarizing some of the updates on the field construction process) and there’s been a pretty big media push to showcase the interior of the stadium site. Plus, David Braun talked about showing the field to potential recruits in the high school class of 2026 — I don’t think that gets discussed if Northwestern isn’t confident that the stadium will be done on time. Front Office Sports reported that the contingency plan would be to continue hosting games in Martin Stadium, but that feels more like a 1% chance type of thing.
Harris: It’s the first major test for new athletic director Mark Jackson, and everything we saw during his first year at the helm makes me think that Northwestern will find a way to open the new Ryan Field in time. The only minor red flag is that the budget has increased from a tentative $800 million when the rebuild was first announced to where it currently stands at $862. I’m still operating under the assumption that it will be ready to go Week 1 barring a disaster.
Miguel: In all honesty, I had very little hope for the projected date of the new Ryan Field opening when the massive, billion-dollar project was first announced a couple years ago. Things like this never go as quickly as planned, I thought. But as progress continues to show at an impressive pace, I’m slowly becoming more and more confident that NU Athletics will accomplish this huge goal in a timely manner. It has got to be ready by Week One of 2026 for Mark Jackson, because if not, it’ll have to wait yet another year.
From Jonathan Wood: Which football game are you most looking forward to this fall?
Yanyan: Probably the UCLA home game at Martin Stadium. It’s one where the ‘Cats won’t be favored, but there’s still a chance at an upset, which could make for an entertaining showing. The Purdue game, one where Northwestern has a better chance of winning, also has the potential to be a fun watch, as any home Big Ten win is entertaining.
Harris: For many of the same reasons that Yanyan picked UCLA, I’m fired up to see Northwestern travel to Lincoln in Week 9. Nebraska is projected to be a fun and potentially dangerous team in year two of the Matt Rhule-Dylan Raiola-era, but the ‘Cats can absolutely steal this one. A win here would feel equivalent to the 2023 win in Camp Randall in stakes and would set Northwestern up very nicely for a potential bowl appearance. Also just cannot wait for Tulane on Saturday. Murphy’s Law very much applies to the season opener in New Orleans.
Miguel: Honestly, the first matchup of the year excites me the most. It might not be a home game, but Northwestern vs. Tulane just has all the makings of a classic to me — two transfer quarterbacks looking to prove something, a pair of head coaches looking to take a step forward from the previous year and an electric environment down in New Orleans. On top of all that, I think this game will be a great indicator of where we ought to temper our expectations for the ‘Cats.
From Isaiah Steinberg: Will Northwestern volleyball be better this season?
Yanyan: I think it will. Head coach Tim Nollan has more experience under his belt, and has recruited a really strong transfer class consisting of multiple players with NCAA tournament and power conference experience — Ayah Elnady (Kansas), Gabrielle Gerry (South Carolina) and Campbell Paris (South Carolina) come to mind. I think this combination of newcomers and returning players will give the program a big boost.
Harris: If better is the standard, then yes. I don’t think we’ve talked enough about how impressive it was for Nollan to get a talent like Elnady through the portal. I won’t go too deep here because of Brendan’s question below, but the two-time First Team All-Big 12 outside hitter has to be worth at least a handful of wins in conference play. Will Northwestern be good? Probably not, but I’d be surprised if Nollan’s roster can’t muster at more than three wins in conference.
Miguel: I’m holding out hope that the proper adjustments will be made and there will be a marked improvement from the disappointing 2024 campaign that the Wildcats went through a season ago. On top of all the incoming transfers already mentioned by my co-EICs above, I also think Coach Nollan has shown that he’s capable of bringing his team to a competitive level towards the top of the B1G, and that he will be more than motivated not to string together underwhelming seasons.
From Brendan Preisman: Outside of Preston Stone, who is going to be the most impactful newcomer for the fall sports season?
Yanyan: I’m going to have to go with field hockey’s Grace Schulze. Transfers aren’t going to play for a team as stacked as Northwestern unless they can have a significant impact, and that’s what Schulze brings. After earning All-Ivy League honors twice in her career and finishing second in total points for Princeton last season, she’s expected to earn a starting role on the ‘Cats as an offensive facilitator.
Harris: It’s gotta be Elnady. The former Jayhawk was arguably for the best player for a Kansas team that finished No. 14 in the country in the final AVCA rankings of the 2024 season. Her decision to transfer to Northwestern is a testament to the “best of both worlds” model, and a reminder that the allure of a graduate degree at Northwestern is as strong a selling point as any amount of NIL money — though I’m sure the ‘Cats were competitive in that realm as well.
From Brendan Preisman: Which returning volleyball player is due for a breakout season?
Yanyan: Redshirt junior Sienna Noordemeer. One of Northwestern’s two representatives at Big Ten Media Days and a team captain, she’s expected to contend for the starting setter job and help fill the massive role taken on by Alexa Rosseau last season.
Harris: I’m going to go with Noordemeer as well. She missed the whole 2023 season with injury and came off the bench in 2024, but her inclusion at Big Ten media days is one of many indications that the former high school All-American will be an key piece for Nollan in 2025.
From Brendan Preisman: What needs to happen for the men’s and women’s soccer teams to make the postseason?
Harris: Simply, both teams need to score more goals. Northwestern men’s and women’s soccer both finished in the bottom of the Big Ten in goals scored in 2024. For the women, the key is quality shots, given that the ‘Cats finished fifth in shots on target % and 15th in total goals scored a year ago. The emergence of a second scorer behind phenom Kennedy Roesch will do good work to improve that number — I think that sophomore Alex Fallon is the most likely name to step up. For the men, it looks like returners Tyler Glassberg and Italo Addimandi — and apparently, Peter Riesz, who scored a brace in the season opener — stepping up alongside the transfers to put together four wins in the Big Ten.
