Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald has just landed his biggest recruit as head coach of the Wildcats. Hunter Johnson, a former five-star quarterback, has officially been added to the Northwestern football family after a transfer from Clemson.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of the Wildcat family,” Johnson said in a released statement. “The program that Coach Fitzgerald and his staff have built at Northwestern is phenomenal, and one my family has had the opportunity to get to know and trust. I am thankful to Coach Swinney and the Clemson family for all their support over the past year-and-a-half.”
“We are ecstatic to add a player of Hunter’s caliber and character to our program,” said Fitzgerald in a released statement. “He comes from an outstanding family, one we’ve had the opportunity to know for many years, and he will fit right in to the culture we continue to build here in Evanston. I’m excited for the opportunity to be his coach and look forward to him joining our football family on campus this month.”
Johnson will have to sit out the 2018 season due to standard NCAA transfer rules, which actually works out well for Northwestern anyway. The Wildcats will get one more year out of starter Clayton Thorson at quarterback before he moves on. That allows Johnson to spend a year getting adjusted to Northwestern and prepare for the starting job in 2019. Johnson will have three years of eligibility to use and can burn his redshirt season this year.