Newly Named Captain Wilde Set to Face Former Team in Season Opener

In the 2025 season, senior wide receiver Griffin Wilde was nearly unstoppable. He finished the season with 71 receptions for 880 yards and eight touchdowns, with his yardage total and receptions both ranking ninth in a single season in program history.

His production was noticed both outside and inside of the Northwestern locker room. In addition to garnering All-Big Ten Third Team honors from the conference’s coaches in December 2025, Wilde’s teammates voted him as one of the team’s six captains for the 2026 campaign.

“When you catch all those balls and score all those touchdowns, guys are going to start looking to you, and you have to look into that and embrace it,” Wide Receivers Coach Armon Binns said. “He’s really come out of his shell and become a lot more vocal. He’s really been able to understand how to read the pulse of the room, when he needs to keep the guys laughing and in free spirits, and also when he needs to make sure everybody’s locked in and doing things the right way.”

The 2025 GameAbove Sports Bowl MVP, Wilde has had a bevy of conversations with Binns about how to grow as a leader. Wilde acts as the head of the snake, always leading the wide receiver room in sprints. He encourages teammates to stay after practice to get more reps. He even pulls aside the younger receivers to give them advice.

For Wilde, being named one of the team’s captains came as a tremendous privilege.

“It’s a big honor, especially coming in last year as a transfer,” Wilde said. “Making my way, finding my voice on this team, and then eventually getting voted captain. It’s a big honor. I just felt grateful and thankful. Grateful for the opportunity to lead this team, to have a voice in this team, and thankful for my teammates just trusting me and voting me to be in that role.”

To find his voice, Wilde has looked to players of the program’s past. Sharing a locker room with linebacker Mac Uihlein, one of the Wildcats’ captains last season, Wilde saw up close and personal how to be outspoken and use his voice. He also has had conversations with former Northwestern wide receivers Bryce Kirtz, a captain in 2024, and A.J. Henning to see how they led the receiver room.

Week 1 of 2026 opens a new chapter for Wilde, who was named to the 2026 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List. As he hopes to build on what 2025 set in stone, he will have a familiar foe in front of him: the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Wilde spent his first-year and sophomore collegiate seasons as a member of South Dakota State, helping the Jackrabbits win a national championship in 2023. Now, he’s set to be lined across from some of his former teammates on Saturday.

“They’re really athletic,” Wilde said. “They’re very well-coached. They’re really sound. They know what they need to do. They know how to play. They have a bunch of different coverages. They hide it well. They do all this stuff to maybe throw the receivers off, the quarterback off. You just got to be ready for everything.”

In his weekly press conference on Monday, Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun noted how facing off against a team with championship culture and DNA should help Northwestern prepare for what’s ahead — a challenging Big Ten slate. Wilde reverberated the same message.

Come Saturday, it will be Northwestern’s first game in over 250 days. Wilde just can’t wait to get out there.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Wilde said. “I know how good they are. Those guys are really good at football, so it’s going to be a good challenge. It’s going to be really fun to see those guys again.”