SerpApi.Org
EVANSTON-As work feverishly continued on the new Ryan Field ahead of its Oct. 2 debut behind them, Northwestern head coach David Braun, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle all fielded questions from the media on the recently installed turf on Tuesday morning.
With all three coach wearing construction hardhats, safety goggles, gloves and high-visibility vests, the metaphor writes itself. While the finishing touches are put on Ryan Field, they are busy trying to build a team worthy of playing in a spectacular, $875 million, state-of-the-art venue.
“We’re building this for the long haul,” Braun said. “I’m going to challenge our fanbase, I’m going to challenge out students: it’s been built. Now it’s our job to put one heck of a team that’s really exciting in this space, and it’s our fans’ jobs to show up, fill this place with purple and truly make this the best home-field advantage in the country.”
The stadium occupies the same location and has the same name as its predecessor, but is a total rebuild from the ground up and feels that way on the field. Gone are the antiquated, slow-sloping stands that made up the lower concourse, and the signature towers and arches.
The field is now ringed with individual seatbacks, three decks high. They were built purposefully steep, so that fans in the last row of the seats in the upper bowl are still close to the action. A large canopy that covers all the seats will keep weather out and the noise in. The building feels denser and larger than its predecessor, even though the seating capacity dropped by around 12,000, to 35,000.
The idea is to fill them all out with NU fans wearing purple, and not a crowd that’s a 50/50 split, as most sellouts were in the old building.
Both coordinators were impressed by the stadium.
Kelly, who has coached at Ohio State and Oregon, among many other stops, was most impressed by the attention to detail. He noted that with the canopy and the high, steep walls of the bowl, most of the wind from outside will be blocked at ground level.
“The details that they have, it’s an amazing place,” Kelly said.
No one has experienced as much change as McGarigle, who starred for the team as a linebacker in the early 2000s. He was eager to juxtapose his playing experience, with his new reality coaching the Wildcats more than 20 years later.
“It’s unbelievable,” he mused. “I mean, we played on grass that was about six inches high, and now we have state-of-the-art everything: state-of-the art stadium, a state-of-the-art training facility. You know, the best of the best.”
Braun said several times that he believes Ryan Field will be the best football stadium in the country.
“I truly believe it’s it’s the best stadium in all of football, and and ultimately, I think it’s it’s right size to our community,” he said. “You know, we’re not trying to be the biggest. We delivered on being the best. But it’s the intimacy, it’s the sightlines for our fans. It’s ultimately the environment that we have an opportunity to create for for our players.”
Recruiting impact
In the age of NIL and revenue sharing, a massive investment in facilities may not carry the weight it once did. Players get paid now, so money in their pockets may carry more importance in the decision process than money poured into the buildings they play in.
Still, all three coaches were adamant that the new stadium has had a positive impact already on the recruits they’ve walked through the construction site the last two years.
“We have certainly felt the impact on recruiting,” said Braun, while admitting that NIL also plays a critical role.
Braun thinks that the message Northwestern sends with two buildings that cost more than a billion dollars between them influences prospects and transfers who are considering the Wildcats. (Northwestern’s Wilson Athletics Center, which opened in 2018, carried a $270 million price tag.)
“It demonstrates at the largest capacity our investment into our football program,” he said.
Kelly echoed Braun, calling the stadium “a huge help” as Northwestern has put together a recruiting class that currently ranks No. 48 in the nation, the highest mark of Braun’s tenure so far.
“We had a chance to bring our recruits over on their official visits in June, and they were all blown away by the facility,” he said.
Carsello’s return will boost Northwestern’s O-line
This press conference was the first time Braun has fielded questions since center Jackson Carsello won his court case against the NCAA to grant his eligibility waiver and play the 2026-27 season.
“It was difficult to see Jackson go through [the court system],” Braun said. “Ultimately, I think there are a lot of things that have been going on over the course of the last few months that are going to make things a lot clearer in terms of roster management.
“But, ultimately, in Jackson’s situation, so happy that the right outcome was landed upon. The impact that he’s going to have is that we have an All-Big Ten caliber center returning.”
Carsello’s return means that Northwestern will have three new starters instead of four up front. Redshirt sophomore Ezomo Oratokhai can also move back over to left guard, his more natural position and where he earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors last season, instead of moving to center to replace Carsello.
“It can’t be understated the impact having Jackson back in 2026 will have on our offensive line, our offense, and our team as a whole,” said Braun.
Schedule adversity
Northwestern has one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA next season. They play three playoff participants — national champion Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State — on the road. They play FCS national title contender South Dakota State and the Big 12’s Colorado in non-conference play.
They also play 11 consecutive games after an early-season bye week.
While stadium construction delays may seem like a logical reason for the gauntlet the Wildcats face, Braun indicated there were other factors at play.
“I am not sure everything that caused it but I know a huge element that has made scheduling very difficult is that these schedules are built so far in advance, and there was a phase where Big Ten games were played Week 1 at times,” Braun detailed. “All of a sudden [add] 18 teams to the mix, and there are a lot of moving parts.”
Northwestern also has a matchup with Ball State for their third non-conference game in the heart of their schedule on Oct. 10, a decision that may have been made assuming their Big Ten opener would come in one of the first few weeks of the season, in late August or early September, rather than on Sept. 25 at Indiana.
Still, Braun is unflinching about what lies ahead.
“We understand the challenge that is in front of us but we embrace it,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re going to turn it into a positive and make sure that our team’s ready ready to go week one.”
