Questions: 1. Will Zach Lujan be retained as offensive coordinator?

[mshelton33]

Questions: 1. Will Zach Lujan be retained as offensive coordinator?

Deciding offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s future will be the biggest question that head coach David Braun has to answer this offseason.

www.on3.com

@lou v has the first of our series of question columns before the transfer portal opens about how Northwestern's offseason will take shape. The first is about the future of offensive coordinator Zach Lujan.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I have a hard time seeing us making a change right now

 

[AtlantaCat]

I have a hard time seeing us making a change right now

We will not make that change.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Am I wrong in thinking we’re way past the point of announcing such a move? I guess y less a dream candidate becomes available and accepts.

 

[NU'06er]

In reality, yes.

But let's not pretend that there's ever a bad day for the guillotine for some...

 

[Eurocat]

Yes and he should.

 

[JustGary]

Just as a counter opinion, if our QB would have not thrown all those critical interceptions, would we really be complaining about Lujan?

 

[AtlantaCat]

Just as a counter opinion, if our QB would have not thrown all those critical interceptions, would we really be complaining about Lujan?

Heck yes.

 

[Fanaticat98]

Just as a counter opinion, if our QB would have not thrown all those critical interceptions, would we really be complaining about Lujan?

Yes, the INTs weren’t related to the red zone offense.

 

[JustGary]

Yes, the INTs weren’t related to the red zone offense.

You mean the red zone offense which was 21st in the nation? Btw, our defense was 91st in the nation for red zone defense, but we don’t seem to want to fire McGarigle.

I don’t really know how good or bad Lujan is, but I don’t think our offense is any worse than what I have seen since the Colter-Siemian years.

 

[Fanaticat98]

You mean the red zone offense which was 21st in the nation? Btw, our defense was 91st in the nation for red zone defense, but we don’t seem to want to fire McGarigle.

I don’t really know how good or bad Lujan is, but I don’t think our offense is any worse than what I have seen since the Colter-Siemian years.

Nice try. The O was ranked 131/136 in red zone TD percentage. The ranking of 21 in red zone O is because we settled for so many field goals rather than converting or going for it on 4th down in the red zone. And thankfully didn’t turn it over much. Red zone TDs may have made the difference between winning and losing the Michigan (3 red zone FGs) and Illinois (2 red zone FGs) games.

And our D while ranking 91st in red zone score%, was 38th in the total number of red zone trips allowed which seems more important. If they gave up 100% of red zone scores but only allowed 1 trip all year, they’d be ranked last by the metric you cited.

 

[JustGary]

Nice try. The O was ranked 131/136 in red zone TD percentage. The ranking of 21 in red zone O is because we settled for so many field goals rather than converting or going for it on 4th down in the red zone. And thankfully didn’t turn it over much. Red zone TDs may have made the difference between winning and losing the Michigan (3 red zone FGs) and Illinois (2 red zone FGs) games.

And our D while ranking 91st in red zone score%, was 38th in the total number of red zone trips allowed which seems more important. If they gave up 100% of red zone scores but only allowed 1 trip all year, they’d be ranked last by the metric you cited.

It seems that the offense needs to improve turning FG into TD, but Lujan already shows improvement from year 1 to year 2. We moved from 107th in red zone trips per game in 2024 to 62nd (not great but vastly improved). To be transparent, these are the red zone numbers for the last four years.

In 2025, 12 games, 45 (3.7 per game) trips (62nd) with 20TD (44% 131st) and 21 FG (47% 1st).
In 2024, 12 games, 38 (3.2 per game) trips (107th) with 15TD (39% 132nd) and 11 FG (29% 25th).
In 2023, 13 games, 41 (3.2 per game) trips (86th) with 25TD (61% 66th) and 11FG (27% 38th).
In 2022, 12 games, 33 (2.7 per game) trips (115th) with 12TD (55% 98th) and 7 FG (21% 74th).

I’m not saying this offense is great, but it showed progress. My premise was that interceptions had a lot to do with our results too. Stone through 12 interceptions which was 105th highest in the nation. It kills drives and improved our opponents ability to score. Our (total) QB rating was 115th in the nation. He threw 2 interceptions against Nebraska and 3 against Illinois. That is the difference between 6-6 and 8-4. Slightly better play against Michigan and that could have been 9-3. Duke’s QB rating was 155 (21st in the nation) and Vandy was 170 (4th in nation). How can Duke and Vandy get exceptional quarterbacks and we cannot do the same? I’m convinced with the right portal QB this year, we can improve the QB stats, red zone trips, and red zone TD Percentage. Also I think Lujan is learning and will be a better signal caller. Honestly, changing OC would cause a big disruption at this point. So, to answer the thread, I don’t think this is the biggest question for Braun. If it is between spending million going after a highly sought after OC or millions going after a highly sought after QB, I say spend the millions on a QB. It’s not practical to bring in a new OC. The best move is to aggressively go after a skilled proven QB. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will try and get one of the top tier or even second tier QBs based on Braun’s statement (which I paraphrase to meaning we will not look for a clear starter but for someone to push Boe in the spring).

Argue about Lujan all you want, but we are doomed without an experienced skilled QB No matter who the OC is.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Just as a counter opinion, if our QB would have not thrown all those critical interceptions, would we really be complaining about Lujan?

This is an excellent point. Yes there were some egregious play-calls, but considering that Stone had 12 INTs in 10 games against teams with a pulse, at least 2/3 of which were poor judgment and/or noodle armed, Lujan does get some slack. Stone had ONE good game passing, and was a non factor running all season. I'm "wait and see".about boy wonder Lujan, give him even a middle tier QB and see how he does.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

It seems that the offense needs to improve turning FG into TD, but Lujan already shows improvement from year 1 to year 2. We moved from 107th in red zone trips per game in 2024 to 62nd (not great but vastly improved). To be transparent, these are the red zone numbers for the last four years.

In 2025, 12 games, 45 (3.7 per game) trips (62nd) with 20TD (44% 131st) and 21 FG (47% 1st).
In 2024, 12 games, 38 (3.2 per game) trips (107th) with 15TD (39% 132nd) and 11 FG (29% 25th).
In 2023, 13 games, 41 (3.2 per game) trips (86th) with 25TD (61% 66th) and 11FG (27% 38th).
In 2022, 12 games, 33 (2.7 per game) trips (115th) with 12TD (55% 98th) and 7 FG (21% 74th).

I’m not saying this offense is great, but it showed progress. My premise was that interceptions had a lot to do with our results too. Stone through 12 interceptions which was 105th highest in the nation. It kills drives and improved our opponents ability to score. Our (total) QB rating was 115th in the nation. He threw 2 interceptions against Nebraska and 3 against Illinois. That is the difference between 6-6 and 8-4. Slightly better play against Michigan and that could have been 9-3. Duke’s QB rating was 155 (21st in the nation) and Vandy was 170 (4th in nation). How can Duke and Vandy get exceptional quarterbacks and we cannot do the same? I’m convinced with the right portal QB this year, we can improve the QB stats, red zone trips, and red zone TD Percentage. Also I think Lujan is learning and will be a better signal caller. Honestly, changing OC would cause a big disruption at this point. So, to answer the thread, I don’t think this is the biggest question for Braun. If it is between spending million going after a highly sought after OC or millions going after a highly sought after QB, I say spend the millions on a QB. It’s not practical to bring in a new OC. The best move is to aggressively go after a skilled proven QB. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will try and get one of the top tier or even second tier QBs based on Braun’s statement (which I paraphrase to meaning we will not look for a clear starter but for someone to push Boe in the spring).

Argue about Lujan all you want, but we are doomed without an experienced skilled QB No matter who the OC is.

What's scary is our 99th ranked offense in the country per SP+ was like our 1-2 best offense in nearly a decade, I believe. With a couple weeks left in the season we were at like 92nd and it was our best offense since like 2017 or something like that.

Whether that means we're improving or were just mildly less disasterous... I honestly don't know. I don't know how to interpret those numbers beyond "my God we've really sucked and we need to recalibrate our expectations massively."

 

[docrugby1]

This is an excellent point. Yes there were some egregious play-calls, but considering that Stone had 12 INTs in 10 games against teams with a pulse, at least 2/3 of which were poor judgment and/or noodle armed, Lujan does get some slack. Stone had ONE good game passing, and was a non factor running all season. I'm "wait and see".about boy wonder Lujan, give him even a middle tier QB and see how he does.

Stone gets a lot of criticism but he was just part of a bad offense- bottom quartile scoring and total offense.He rarely had his first option open and had to throw away a lot of balls and unfortunately interceptions. Probably a third of his interceptions were through or off the hands of his receivers. One critical interception went through the hands of a TE but Stone was hammered for it because the receiver was going to get hit, last I looked football was a contact game and receivers get hit
Stone did not play as well as I hoped but NU's offensive deficiencies contributed to his performance

 

[ajr938]

Iowa State's new head coach is former SDSU head coach and DC. Maybe he will make a play for Lujan?

 

[Fanaticat98]

Iowa State's new head coach is former SDSU head coach and DC. Maybe he will make a play for Lujan?

Hopefully won’t try to hire Christian Smith as DC.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

No no a thousand times no. I agree that Stone had some deflected but a) some of those were bad throws that the receiver deflected because they were off target and b) he had around 8 more passes that SHOULD have been interceptions. He made way too many bad decisions for a senior. Look at that sequence against ILL where he had mishaps on like 3 plays out of 5 or so [INT overturned, fumble we recovered, fumble on 4th down. You do realize that he won us one B1G and cost us at least 3, right?

Stone had one meaningful game -MN. The rest of his mediocre stats were against cupcakes. Look at his performance in non ULM WIU and MN games. He is generously listed as the 15th best B1G QB.

Terrible judgment and below average arm.

Stone gets a lot of criticism but he was just part of a bad offense- bottom quartile scoring and total offense.He rarely had his first option open and had to throw away a lot of balls and unfortunately interceptions. Probably a third of his interceptions were through or off the hands of his receivers. One critical interception went through the hands of a TE but Stone was hammered for it because the receiver was going to get hit, last I looked football was a contact game and receivers get hit
Stone did not play as well as I hoped but NU's offensive deficiencies contributed to his performance

 

[Gatabowl]

What's scary is our 99th ranked offense in the country per SP+ was like our 1-2 best offense in nearly a decade, I believe. With a couple weeks left in the season we were at like 92nd and it was our best offense since like 2017 or something like that.

Whether that means we're improving or were just mildly less disasterous... I honestly don't know. I don't know how to interpret those numbers beyond "my God we've really sucked and we need to recalibrate our expectations massively."

This is why I like yards per game as the metric. Yards is a better indicator of how you move the ball.

Points obviously matter but I’d rather be in the red zone and trying to figure out how we turn 3s into 6s vs. not getting there at all.

 

[Fanaticat98]

This is why I like yards per game as the metric. Yards is a better indicator of how you move the ball.

Points obviously matter but I’d rather be in the red zone and trying to figure out how we turn 3s into 6s vs. not getting there at all.

Points matter more than yards obviously. On both offense and defense. On D a bend don’t break gives up some yards but holds down the points by forcing turnovers and FGs.

On O a team can move the ball between the 20s and if they settle for FGs or failed 4th downs, or turning it over. They’re not going to win games.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

This is why I like yards per game as the metric. Yards is a better indicator of how you move the ball.

Points obviously matter but I’d rather be in the red zone and trying to figure out how we turn 3s into 6s vs. not getting there at all.

Even that is pretty flawed because it isn’t tempo adjusted

 

[Gatabowl]

Even that is pretty flawed because it isn’t tempo adjusted

Absolutely. Just meant in terms of the easily available stats.

 

[Gatabowl]

Points matter more than yards obviously. On both offense and defense. On D a bend don’t break gives up some yards but holds down the points by forcing turnovers and FGs.

On O a team can move the ball between the 20s and if they settle for FGs or failed 4th downs, or turning it over. They’re not going to win games.

Defenses that give up a lot of yards but not that many points is an anomaly. You typically need turnovers to make that arrangement work.

and also… of course it’s not going to win games. But we know the problem isn’t that we can’t move the ball. It’s our red zone offense. That is fixable.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Defenses that give up a lot of yards but not that many points is an anomaly. You typically need turnovers to make that arrangement work.

and also… of course it’s not going to win games. But we know the problem isn’t that we can’t move the ball. It’s our red zone offense. That is fixable.

Also varies based on giving up pass yards vs rush yards. A team may give up quite a few pass yards but get some stops but a team that gives us a bunch of rushing yards is probably just gonna get chewed

 

[NU'06er]

Stone gets a lot of criticism but he was just part of a bad offense

Not that I disagree with your substantive point about other aspects of the offense, and poor WR play outside of Wilde in particular, being a contributing factor in Stone's struggles -- but sometimes it feels like our offense is so bad overall that it buys everyone an excuse.

The offense is bad, but it's not Lujan's fault, he just needs a better QB to work with.
The QB is bad, but it's not Stone's fault, he just needs better receivers.
The WRs are bad, but it's not their fault, have you seen the scheme we're running? Etc.

I would say that rather than everyone passing the buck, there's enough blame to go around. The answer to: Is Lujan responsible? Is Stone responsible? Are the non-Wilde WRs response? -- is Yes.

Two bowls in three years buys time for a program that was left at death's doorstep when Braun arrived, but the writing is on the wall in all the never-ending posts pining to just hire the miraculous next Cignetti that is apparently around every corner that Lujan better find that better QB he's supposedly been missing or people are gonna start saying it's not about the QB, it's about his talent evaluation/inability to make it work despite switching out the parts...

 

[NU'06er]

Iowa State's new head coach is former SDSU head coach and DC.

For a second I thought that was San Diego State, not South Dakota State, and I could not imagine leaving San Diego for Ames...

 

[docrugby1]

It seems that the offense needs to improve turning FG into TD, but Lujan already shows improvement from year 1 to year 2. We moved from 107th in red zone trips per game in 2024 to 62nd (not great but vastly improved). To be transparent, these are the red zone numbers for the last four years.

In 2025, 12 games, 45 (3.7 per game) trips (62nd) with 20TD (44% 131st) and 21 FG (47% 1st).
In 2024, 12 games, 38 (3.2 per game) trips (107th) with 15TD (39% 132nd) and 11 FG (29% 25th).
In 2023, 13 games, 41 (3.2 per game) trips (86th) with 25TD (61% 66th) and 11FG (27% 38th).
In 2022, 12 games, 33 (2.7 per game) trips (115th) with 12TD (55% 98th) and 7 FG (21% 74th).

I’m not saying this offense is great, but it showed progress. My premise was that interceptions had a lot to do with our results too. Stone through 12 interceptions which was 105th highest in the nation. It kills drives and improved our opponents ability to score. Our (total) QB rating was 115th in the nation. He threw 2 interceptions against Nebraska and 3 against Illinois. That is the difference between 6-6 and 8-4. Slightly better play against Michigan and that could have been 9-3. Duke’s QB rating was 155 (21st in the nation) and Vandy was 170 (4th in nation). How can Duke and Vandy get exceptional quarterbacks and we cannot do the same? I’m convinced with the right portal QB this year, we can improve the QB stats, red zone trips, and red zone TD Percentage. Also I think Lujan is learning and will be a better signal caller. Honestly, changing OC would cause a big disruption at this point. So, to answer the thread, I don’t think this is the biggest question for Braun. If it is between spending million going after a highly sought after OC or millions going after a highly sought after QB, I say spend the millions on a QB. It’s not practical to bring in a new OC. The best move is to aggressively go after a skilled proven QB. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will try and get one of the top tier or even second tier QBs based on Braun’s statement (which I paraphrase to meaning we will not look for a clear starter but for someone to push Boe in the spring).

Argue about Lujan all you want, but we are doomed without an experienced skilled QB No matter who the OC is.

QBs play within a team's offensive scheme and available talent. The redzone performance reflects an offense's quality very well. So you can place the blame wherever you like-OC QB WR OL but NU's offense was poor. Stone bore the weight of criticism but watch how often he was hurried, forced to scramble, throw the ball away or take high risk chances and suffer WR drops and deflected interceptions. Stone did not play great, as I had hoped , but he functioned in NU's offense. I am not sure how Stone's performance dropped from 2023 to 2025 but one possibility is the change from SMU's offense to NU's