By Bobby Narang
Northern Illinois University head football coach, Thomas Hammock, kicked off Spring practice by discussing the upcoming season.
The former Northern Illinois star running back enters a pivotal year in his head coaching tenure after the Huskies lost all six of their games last season in the condensed and delayed season.
The third-year coach is seeking to build some consistency in the program in the win column, or otherwise he might be among the candidates to be on the chopping block after the 2021 season.
Hammock said he expects a big improvement this Fall.
“I think we have the ability to make a huge jump and I think a lot of times what you see with younger players a lot of times is they make a bigger jump than guys much older,” Hammock said. “A freshman, whether it’s a redshirt freshman or a freshman to a sophomore, those guys make bigger jumps than a junior to a senior. You know we can make a tremendous jump.”
The Huskies were one of the youngest teams in Division I last Fall, plus were stung by some last-minute transfers that hurt the team’s depth. The young team missed out on valuable growth after Spring practice was canceled last year and the loss of Fall practices.
Before Hammock’s arrival, the Huskies had produced nine winning seasons in the last 10 campaigns. In his first two seasons, the Huskies have a 5-13 record. One of the knocks of Hammock’s hiring was his lack of head-coaching experience, having served as an assistant throughout his collegiate and professional career.
Part of Northern Illinois’ troubles last season stemmed from the lack of personal communication, for the Zoom meetings and inability to build chemistry hurt the young program.
Hammock said he’s already noticed an improvement in his team.
“We’ve seen guys make tremendous strides in the weight room, with their football IQ, and from an athletic standpoint,” Hammock said.
“We want to make sure we can tackle. We want to make sure we can take the ball away, create the plays that gives our offense better opportunities to score more points. “Number one, we have to protect the football,” he said. “Number two, we have to create big plays. We have to be more dynamic and more explosive to score more points.”
The Huskies have a gaping hole at quarterback following the graduation of Ross Bowers. Michigan State transfer Rocky Lombardi is a player to watch. Dustin Fletcher, Rodney Thompson and Aurora Christian High School graduate, Ethan Hampton, are the main candidates at quarterback.
“We’ve got four guys we feel really good about,” Hammock said. “This Spring is going to be a great evaluation time for us to get a look at them….Nothing was guaranteed to Rocky, and he understands that. What he’s done every day is earned the respect of his teammates by the way he works. He’s a great leader, great worker, good football IQ, and has a high passion for the game.”