Before he could lead a group of new faces, Peyton Ramsey had to earn everyone’s trust. He couldn’t just go in there and let it rip. No, to win the room over, he had to over-prepare. Notes were jotted down and applied to the next day’s tutorial. Everyone had to be on the same page and understand how the bigger picture came together. Communication was key. So, too, was engagement — a potentially taxing affair over time, when the buck stops with you. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which meant that all of this learning had to be done remotely.



For football, Ramsey would at least be in the same boat as his future Northwestern teammates: away from the field, away from the camaraderie of lifting or throwing with them.



But there remained some unfinished business in Indiana, where the quarterback will receive his degree from IU next month after completing his final semester assignment: student-teaching at Bloomington (Ind.) North High...