Northwestern Football Pencils in Official Visit from 3-Star Linebacker
In this story:
Northwestern Wildcats football defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tim McGarigle will be looking for some reinforcements this spring.
Linebacker Bryce Breeden, currently a three-star, 6-foot-1 junior at Bridge City High School in Bridge City, Texas, took to his official X account to announce that he'll be paying an official visit to Evanston from May 8th-10th.
McGarigle, who currently stands as Northwestern's leading tackler ever with 545, has been on staff for nine seasons overall — and is kicking off his second year as the program's defensive coordinator. He began his tenure with Northwestern in 2011, when he served as a graduate student assistant.
The now-42-year-old next served as the linebackers coach at Western Michigan in 2012 and '13, then took on additional duties as run game coordinator across the next two seasons. He next returned to the Big Ten in 2016, when he served as a linebackers coach for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini.
He had a cup of coffee in the NFL for a year, as the Green Bay Packers' defensive quality control coach. He's been back with Northwestern ever since. From 2018-23, he was the Wildcats' linebackers coach. He's had his current role since the 2024 season.
McGarigle, a native Chicagoan, also logged five seasons in the pros — including parts of three years with the NFL's then-St. Louis Rams (he was waived in September 2008) and two with the United Football League's Florida Tuskers.
It might behoove Breeden to learn under the tutelage of McGarigle. As of this writing, McGarigle has guided five linebackers to All-Big Ten honors. That tally includes Bryce Gallagher and Xander Mueller in 2023.
Last year, McGarigle's defense notched three defensive touchdowns, good for the 17th-most in the country (and the third-most in the Big Ten).
_________________________________
More from Northwestern On SI
_________________________________
Stay up to date on the Wildcats by bookmarking Northwestern On SI and following us on Twitter.
An Evanston native, Alex Kirschenbaum is also a proud Northwestern alum. He has written for Bleacher Nation, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Hoops Rumors, Trailers From Hell, Men's Journal, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others. Alex knows Zach Collins has given the Bulls some good years, but he'll never forgive the then-Gonzaga center for that very obvious goaltend against the Wildcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.