Coop Daley

UPDATE: After The Daily’s report, Northwestern commits to returning the band on-field pregame. Sources told me as of Thursday there had been no commitments made for future on-field pregame performances. Now Friday, NU makes a public affirmation. dailynorthwestern.com/2026/1…

Statement to the Daily from NU Marching and Band Alums President Blake Kolesa: “To borrow from NU Athletics marketing campaigns from the 2010s, Northwestern is a special place because “AND is in its DNA.”  That is true of so many individuals and groups at NU. Including the athletes and the bands.   The football team AND marching band have been in the same place consistently throughout the university’s history: Saturdays at Dyche Stadium and Ryan Field.  This is true when the ‘Cats won consecutive bowl games for the first time in the last decade, AND when the Purple recorded 34 straight losses in 1979-82, with the Marching Band never abandoning their post.   Now, it appears that pairing is at risk. While Northwestern becomes the center of the college football universe Friday night, it will be the only school in the Big Ten—or the Power 4 for that matter—not putting a marching band on the field for pregame this weekend.  Presented an opportunity to put the football team AND its most loyal supporter, NUMB, side by side in the new iteration of Ryan field, I am saddened by the decision of the New Ryan Field production team and Northwestern athletics to turn its back on NUMB when asked whether to prioritize money-making “premium” food stands hand libation sales OR tradition and its most dedicated champions.   The NUMBAlums and I are saddened by the decisions made to sideline the student musicians of the marching band and the band’s decades old tradition on the eve of the new stadium’s opening. We are hopeful that the noticeable absence of the pregame performance will cause the administration reconsider and allow NUMB to return to the field ahead of the first homecoming game at new Ryan Field next week.”