Column: Everything is different for QB Mike Wright, and it's what Northwestern football needs
EVANSTON, Ill. - Don't think that Mike Wright was bored taking on the best teams in the nation.
The quarterback who spent time at Vanderbilt and Mississippi State before transferring to Northwestern this offseason has seen a thing or two. That's how it goes when you spend four years in the SEC.
"I feel like I can go play Kentucky's defense right now because they've been running the same thing for three or four years," Wright told FOX 32. "Same thing with South Carolina."
Wright won't place Kentucky and South Carolina this season, to be clear. Ohio State and Michigan have replaced the Wildcats and Gamecocks on his to-do list.
Still, that's plenty of knowledge that now resides in Evanston, Illinois.
It's been made clear that Northwestern will not name a starting quarterback ahead of its Week 1 game against Miami (Ohio). Whomever the first-string quarterback is will come to light on Saturday shortly after 2:30 CT.
Even if it's not Wright under center with the first-team offense this Saturday and beyond, that knowledge and experience will only benefit a football team that needs a player who has been there and done that in plenty of different situations.
Northwestern has been here before. They once had Indiana transfer Peyton Ramsay at quarterback during the 2020 season, and Ramsay's experience helped lead the ‘Cats to a Citrus Bowl win over Auburn.
It’s not the same situation, as Wright could not win the job at all, but I don't think Wright would have come to Northwestern if he didn't think he'd have a great chance to win the starting quarterback job over Jack Lausch.
A lot of that is based in Wright's experience, which is something he'll be leaning on in a brand-new environment.
"There's a different level of focus coming into a whole entire different league," Wright said. "I think when you play in the same conference for four years straight, there's not that many moving parts when it comes to players on the teams and defensive coordinators."
That part is exciting for Wright.
Not only will he get to learn how to play in the Big Ten, but he'll go up against a different brand of stars in a new-look league.
"I know exactly how Jordan Davis from Georgia will play," Wright said. "Now there's a different studying element to it. So I think that's pretty cool. It gives me a chance to learn different guys again."
He's not just learning different players and different schemes, he's learning a different area.
Wright calls himself one of the biggest Chicago Sky fans ever. He loves taking strolls around both Evanston and Chicago, and urges anyone who sees him to say hello as he explores his first college home outside of the SEC.
Especially as some might have sold him some false information.
"They're telling me it's going to be a colder Atlanta," Wright, who is in line for his first Midwestern winter, said. "We'll see how that shakes up."
As a football player, though, Wright will get to bring his football acumen to Evanston.
NU head coach David Braun knows how important that experience is. Ben Bryant, with his experience at Cincinnati and Eastern Michigan, led the 'Cats to road wins and a Las Vegas Bowl win.
"Mike has played a lot of football," Braun said. "It's absolutely invaluable at any position, but specifically the quarterback position."
It isn't just Wright, either. Ryan Hilinski brings SEC experience to the quarterback room. Wright and Hilinksi played against each other in 2020 when Vanderbilt played South Carolina.
As the saying goes: two heads are better than one, especially in the most important position in sports.
"You can't put a value on that," Braun said.
We won't know who's at QB for NU until Saturday, and that's by design. It isn't some Fort Knox secret, but it's one that Braun wants to hold close to his chest to take every advantage possible.
"That information doesn't necessarily need to be Miami's until the game," Braun said.
The good news for Braun is he's got a quarterback room that understands how the game goes.
"We have the tightest quarterback room you could ever have, and really an amazing quarterback room to walk into," Wright said. "You get some quarterback rooms that are kind of tight and built with friction, but that's not how we roll at Northwestern. Ee completely understand that the guy who's going to go out there and take that first snap is the guy that's going to give us the best chance of winning, and that's our main job at quarterback is to help this team win."
With Wright, Northwestern is in a good place to continue it's success from Braun's first year. Having a wealth of knowledge sets them apart from other Big Ten teams that don't have a quarterback who understands how to attack different defenses.
Expecting 10 wins or more in a new-look Big Ten might be too ambitious, but with Wright in the quarterback room it's fair to expect Northwestern to win the games it needs to clinch a bowl berth.
That's not too big of an ask for a player that's seen it all and found a calloused toughness from his past experiences in college football.
"I've seen every element that you can really see from a football player," Wright said. "It just molds you into the player that you want to be."