It's just like new for NU

Northwestern welcomes back eight starters from the school's stingiest defense since a fella named Pat Fitzgerald led the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl in 1995.

This year's defense will feature five seniors, including Playboy All-American defensive end Corey Wootton and three all-Big Ten candidates in the secondary, as well as three redshirt juniors.

In short, the Wildcats are going to be good and smart and experienced.

So how did second-year defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz treat them during their meeting prior to Monday's camp-opening practice?

"Like we had no idea what was going on," said senior safety Brendan Smith, who has made 32 starts and 188 tackles in his four-year-plus career. "We go back to the beginning, no matter what. It's like baseball. Major-league players come back (in spring) and they hit off the tee.

"They pretend like we're all freshmen so that we go through it all again. And it's good. Now you're picking up something that you didn't know last time."

The Wildcats aren't going to be spoon-fed forever.

Expectations are that with terrific movable parts like senior Brad Phillips, who boasts the size and skills to play nickel or linebacker, and athletic specimens like defensive end Vince Browne and weak-side linebacker Ben Johnson joining the lineup, it's a matter of time before the 61-year-old Hankwitz unleashes some of the more extravagant schemes in his expansive arsenal.

"Last year, we were really just learning a lot," said junior defensive tackle Corbin Bryant. "Now we know the defense and we're just flying around and playing as fast as we can. There's more to come, more to come."

NU ranked fourth in the Big Ten last year in scoring defense (20.2 ppg) and fifth in yards allowed (340.5 ypg).

Two starters from this year's expected lineup weren't on the field for Monday afternoon's workout. Senior cornerback Sherrick McManis and senior tackle Adam Hahn stayed on the sidelines in gray shirts.

Fitzgerald, who embarks on his fourth season as the Wildcats' boss, said he held them out as a precautionary measure and expects them on the field shortly.

On the bright side, the 6-foot-7, 270-pound Wootton romped all over the turf like a prize racehorse less than eight months after wrecking his right knee during the Alamo Bowl.

"He's doing great," Fitzgerald said. "He had a tremendous rehab. His attitude's been phenomenal. It's great to see him out there."

To belabor the horse metaphor, Fitzgerald thinks Wootton will be champing at the bit to practice every day. That could make it tough for Fitzgerald to stick with his plan to rest him every third workout.

"The great thing about Corey is, he's so competitive that he doesn't want to miss a rep," Fitzgerald said. "We're just trying to get him prepared for the opener, but then moreso for the other 13 weeks of the year, too."

See what Fitz did there? NU has 12 games and one bye week during the regular season, so he must be planning on a bowl game.