Yesterday, Northwestern lost kicker Jack Olsen to the transfer portal. Today, the 'Cats have brought in his presumptive replacement, securing the services of former Bowling Green place kicker Jackson Kleather.
Olsen's departure was surprising more than anything because it's hard to believe he has more eligibility. He'll play his sixth season in 2026. But it was certainly a loss for the 'Cats, as Olsen was fairly consistent this season, finishing 19-of-21 on the year and never missing an extra point.
The good news for Northwestern? Kleather was similarly solid throughout 2025 -- he finished the year 19-of-22, also perfect on the PAT. Two of his misses came on field goals longer than fifty yards, of which he was 3-of-5 and made his season-long of 56 yards. The other was in the 40-49 range, where he was 5-of-6.
On his career, Kleather has played three seasons with Bowling Green, and he's 25-of-31 in that time, sitting his freshman season and some of his second year.
This all came together rather quickly for the Wildcats. They likely knew they needed a kicker from the start of the offseason, since players and coaches at NU seem to have fairly good dialogue about portal entrances and decisions.
Northwestern hosted Kleather on Jan. 5, according to Inside NU, and it seems both parties agreed it would be a good fit. With Olsen out of the fold, it's difficult to imagine that Kleather won't have the inside track to the starting job in 2026, barring another portal addition.
The Olsen era in Evanston has come to an end, and he deserves credit for a good career in purple and white. Over his five years with the program, he finished 40-of-51, with most of the misses coming from long range. He didn't have the strongest boot, but he was exceptional from close range, and he was a model of consistency on the extra point. He's only missed one of those in his entire college career.
Now, he'll look to finish his career on a high note while the Wildcats move on with Kleather. The new kicker in Evanston doesn't profile much differently than Olsen, struggling more from long range, but that's true of most kickers.
If Kleather can prove himself to coaches as someone with a reasonable chance of knocking through 50+ yarders, though, that could be a big deal for this offense. With Olsen, the Wildcats had to get pretty far into enemy territory to consider themselves in field goal range. With the way kicking is trending at the next level, and in college, it's going to become increasingly important to be capable os using your kicker as a weapon.