Getty Image / Robin Alam
Northwestern University’s football program currently finds themselves at the center of a major scandal.
As a result of a recent investigation into hazing allegations in the program, their head football coach was fired today.
Now the program faces a difficult situation for the upcoming season.
The Wildcats are less than 2 months away from their season opener against Rutgers and have to find a coach after all of the most appealing candidates have already found jobs elsewhere.
While they are facing an uphill battle to find a qualified replacement that will want to take over a program in the midst of a scandal that went 1-11 last year, they have already been linked to one very interesting name.
According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, Northwestern could target Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to be their next head coach.
With Pat Fitzgerald fired, Northwestern will hire a new football coach later this year. There's a dream candidate out there with deep Wildcat ties but we doubt that one's gonna happen. Here's how we expect Northwestern's coaching search to shape up. https://t.co/fKVAs40hip
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 11, 2023
“He’s entering his first season as Alabama’s offensive coordinator after a long tenure at Notre Dame, his alma mater. Despite being one of the youngest offensive coordinators in the country, Rees does have experience that Northwestern could value as it searches for a new head coach.”
Tommy Rees’ first coaching experience came at Northwestern as a graduate assistant back in 2015, but it’s hard to see how this would be a move that would appeal to him.
It makes a lot more sense for him to spend the year with the Crimson Tide and then take his pick of the much more appealing jobs that will be available next year.
While it would be interesting to see Alabama lose their offensive coordinator twice in the offseason, it would be surprising to see Northwestern lure their OC away before the start of the 2023 season.