What’s next for Northwestern?
The Wildcats need a new AD as Derrick Gragg transitions to VP for athletic strategy.
Northwestern is in the market for a new athletic director, as Derrick Gragg is moving over to VP for athletic strategy, a newly created role that the school is trying really hard to spin publicly as a re-assignment and not a demotion.
Semantics aside, the bottom line is that the Wildcats will soon be on their fourth different full-time AD in less than four years, lest we forget the short-lived tenure of Mike Polisky in 2021 after a search that dragged on for months — and a move that led to the rushed hiring of Gragg, then the NCAA’s SVP for inclusion, education and community engagement.
Gragg’s tenure in Evanston seemed tenuous since last summer, when longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was dismissed in the aftermath of a hazing scandal, leading to multiple ongoing lawsuits against Northwestern and its officials. Throw in a baseball scandal that led to a coaching change, more than 15 players entering the transfer portal and yes, more lawsuits, and it seemed like only a matter of time before a changing-of-the-guard was in order atop the athletic department.
Everyone at Northwestern got really lucky that the place struck gold with head football coach David Braun, who took over a terrible situation as interim coach last summer, then led the ‘Cats to eight wins in the fall and subsequently landed the full-time job, helping the place to turn the page peacefully from the Fitzgerald era, where feelings are still raw and fresh.
The school also got lucky that it had the quick-thinking of deputy AD Jesse Marks and alum/superfan Jay Sharman, who were able to make do with limited guidance and get the school to put up a temporary stadium at Martin Field for most home games the next two seasons. That type of hustle became necessary after WildcatReport reported in February that Gragg, in a failure to read the room, told a New York alumni group that Northwestern planned to play a home game — presumably against Wisconsin — at Lambeau Field this fall, spurring backlash.