Mike Hankwitz

Mike Hankwitz (born December 14, 1947) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Northwestern University, a position he has held since 2008. Hankwitz has twice served as an interim head football coach, for seven games in 2003 at the University of Arizona and for one game in 2005, the Champs Sports Bowl, with the University of Colorado–Boulder, compiling a career head coaching record of 1–7.

Hankwitz played college football at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1969. He has spent most of his coaching career as an assistant at a number of schools. Teams for which Hankwitz has coached have had a winning record in 34 of his 40 years. Ten of those clubs won conference championships and 12 more were league runners-up. Hankwitz has coached in 25 bowl games, including every major New Year's Day bowl game—Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, Outback Bowl and Capital One Bowl.

In his 25 years as a defensive coordinator, his defense has ranked in the nation's top 25 on 14 occasions. As coordinator, his teams have 36 wins over ranked programs, including nine wins over top-five clubs and two wins over #1-ranked teams. Hankwitz also has coached 14 first-team All-Americans, including four straight punters at Colorado, five conference defensive players of the year, 47 first-team all-conference choices and 12 team MVPs. He has recruited eight players who went on to play in the NFL. As a coordinator, Hankwitz has won 202 games and seven conference championships.

He has come under criticism from fans lately, who blame his conservative play-calling, particularly his tendency to rely on the three-man rush, as a major reason for Northwestern's difficulties this season.