While some college football programs pare down their spring practices, coach David Braun said Northwestern needs to do more, not less.
“I know there are a lot of programs that are scaling back the number of practices that they’re utilizing in the spring right now,” he said Tuesday at Northwestern’s pro day on campus. “We don’t have that luxury, being a developmental program … We’ve got to keep pushing and keep bringing this team along. …
“We gotta push. We gotta push for development. We’re coming off a frustrating season in 2024. We’re not going to get better by scaling back or being fearful of what could happen. We’ve gotta find ways to get better.”
The Wildcats haven’t held spring games lately. Northwestern, which went 4-8 last year and 2-7 in Big Ten play, will hold two scrimmages that will be closed to the public next month and will open up their last practice of the spring to fans.
“Do I see that as an official spring game? No,” Braun said. “But it will be an opportunity for us, especially for our young guys, to get out and get in a scrimmage-type format.”
Monday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he wanted to scrimmage another team instead of playing a traditional spring intrasquad scrimmage. NCAA bylaws don’t allow that. Texas, USC and Nebraska are among the programs that have canceled spring games this year, believing the injury risk wasn’t worth it. In the era of paying players, a key injury amounts to a financial investment gone awry.
Northwestern was one of two Big Ten teams to not have a single prospect invited to the NFL Scouting Combine this year. Ten Wildcats with hopes of getting picked late in next month’s draft or signing undrafted free-agent contracts participated in Tuesday’s pro day in front of NFL scouts.
Braun characterized offensive lineman Caleb Tiernan, defensive lineman Anto Saka and quarterback Preston Stone as NFL Scouting Combine candidates for next year. Stone, a SMU transfer who threw for 3,197 yards in 2023, is fighting returnee Jack Lausch, who is also playing baseball this spring, for the starting job. They’re both taking first-team reps this spring.
“I’ve been very impressed with Preston’s ability to come in and pick up a new offense,” Braun said.