If you like the status quo, then Northwestern's spring camp wasn't the place to be.

After a frustrating 6-6 season where the Wildcats squandered fourth-quarter leads against Purdue and Iowa -- and somehow lost a home game to Duke -- Pat Fitzgerald shook things up during the offseason.

He brought in Bowling Green's Mick McCall as offensive coordinator -- and McCall convinced Fitzgerald to go back to the no-huddle attack that Northwestern used for several years under Randy Walker.

He brought in Wisconsin's Mike Hankwitz as defensive coordinator -- and Hankwitz installed an attacking 4-3 defense that's supposed to bring more big plays in 2008.

The new coordinators' arrivals meant Northwestern spent plenty of spring ball learning new systems and mastering their fundamentals. But everyone believes the Wildcats will be the better for it when Camp Kenosha rolls around in early August.

"I wanted to get everyone on the same page," Fitzgerald told the Chicago Tribune. "Our guys have understood the personalities of the coordinators, the expectations of what we want to do. Now, we can't get enough reps. I wish we had another month."

"It was a little fast and hectic in the beginning," senior quarterback C.J. Bacher told the Daily Herald about the no-huddle. "But we're starting to get it down. Things are going a little slower and we're getting it going in the right direction now."

Northwestern also needed to go a long way toward identify new starters during the spring. The Wildcats found at least two of their three new offensive linemen in redshirt freshman left tackle Al Netter and senior left guard Keegan Kennedy. They also seem to have Adam Kadela's replacement at middle linebacker in senior Malcolm Arrington.

With a schedule that doesn't include a 2007 bowl team until October 11 (Michigan State), the veteran-laden Wildcats could be well on their way to their first bowl game since 2005 by that time.

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