Luke Walerius, who's had noteworthy stops in various personnel positions at both North Texas and Memphis, is climbing into the Power 5 ranks.
Walerius is going to become Northwestern's new general manager of roster development and retention.
He comes to David Braun's Northwestern staff after most recently serving as the director of recruiting at the University of Memphis in 2023.
Prior to that, Walerius had several years' work at North Texas, rising from the program's director of recruiting up to North Texas football's chief of staff.
Braun is implementing a handful of changes atop the Northwestern program after turning his interim coaching stint this fall into the full-time position.
After its bowl win against Utah, Northwestern parted with well-traveled offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, who has coordinated offenses at Boston College, Cincinnati and Tennessee, as well as worked in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Walerius will serve a critical role moving forward for the Wildcats as they signed just 15 players for their 2024 class this month in the NCAA Early Signing Period.
Thus far, Northwestern has seen approximately six players enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Walerius was notably praised by industry sources for his work in recruiting and roster development/management during his time at North Texas.
After an 8-5 season, Northwestern opens its 2024 campaign with consecutive home games against Miami (Ohio) and Duke before traveling cross-country to face College Football Playoff semifinalist Washington in a brand-new Big Ten Conference game.