The 'Cats made some decisions about their defensive coaching staff today.
Northwestern made announcements today via X about its coaching staff for the upcoming 2026 football season, specifically on the defensive side.
The first piece of news is that LaMarcus Hicks has been elevated to oversee the whole secondary as defensive backs coach. Hicks was previously a cornerbacks coach for the team, a position he held for three pretty good seasons of Wildcat defense.
In his first year, the 'Cats finished 8-5, winning a bowl game against Utah. Northwestern's offense was solid that season, but its defense was its clear strength, and the secondary specifically was very good, intercepting 13 passes on the year and finishing sixth in the conference in air yards allowed per contest.
Hicks formerly played in the NFL with the Detroit Lions for a brief stint. He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones and went undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft. Since then, he's been working his way up the coaching ranks in the college game.
Additionally in the secondary, the 'Cats are promoting Drew Gray to safeties coach and Jeff Copp to senior defensive assistant/nickels coach. The team announced all of these moves via a post to X earlier today.
Continuing its busy day, the program also hired Fred Wyatt as a defensive line specialist. Wyatt is a former Northwestern player, who was in Evanston from 2016 to 2018. He becomes a very young staff member with promise and a familiarity with the program.
In his college career, he had 57 tackles and 6.5 TFLs over the course of his three seasons. His best year came in 2018 when he had 28 of those tackles and 3.5 TFLs. He also had a pass defended that season.
These moves should finalize Northwestern's defensive staff for the 2026 season. The 'Cats made a big splash on the opposite side of the ball in December, hiring Chip Kelly to be offensive coordinator. But this team has long been reliant on its defense, and David Braun surely doesn't want to lose that identity in the name of improving the offense.
These coaches will be part of making sure that doesn't happen over the next few years as the 'Cats simultaneously hope Kelly allows them to be a little less one-dimensional.
Throughout the offseason, Northwestern's head coach has been clear with the media that he wants his staff to be flexible and capable of adapting to the existing talent on the roster.