By Bobby Narang
Northern Illinois University head football coach Thomas Hammock is accustomed to handling tough challenges.
The former Northern Illinois star running back had his stellar career cut short by a heart condition just one game into his senior season. He finished with 2,432 yards and just one of 10 Huskies to notch consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
After a long coaching career that included stops at Northern Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Baltimore Ravens, Hammock returned to lead his alma mater in January 2019
Hammock’s first season as the leader of Northern Illinois’ program hit a few bumps last season with the Huskies finishing with a 5-7 record, just the second losing record in the past 11 years.
Then, after COVID-19 forced all sporting events to be canceled, the Huskies concluded an important Spring practice season with just two practices. Yet, Hammock isn’t fazed by missing the majority of Spring practices, a critical time for his coaching staff members.
“The good thing is we had our offseason program set up, similar to how an NFL team does it,” Hammock said. “We took time away from conditioning to work more on football specific movements to develop technique. I feel good about what we accomplished in a short amount of time.”
The Huskies have several key players coming back, namely quarterback Ross Bowers, tight end Daniel Crawford, linebacker Kyle Pugh, and defensive lineman Jack Heflin.
Hammock said Bowers, a sixth-year senior, showed a lot of progress from his debut season with the Huskies.
“Ross is a guy who can throw the football,” Hammock said. “He’s not quite the athletic running quarterback, but he’s comfortable in the pocket and can deliver the ball. I think he has a better understanding of the offense. He got here last Summer, so he had a quick introduction and just jumped into the season.”
Hammock said running back is a key area of development for the coaching staff, naming Jordan Nettles, Jay Ducker, and Rondarius Gregory as players to watch.
“We want to be a team can be dominating running the ball,” he said. “We only had five home games last year, and all of them were in rainy conditions. We have to run the ball so we can open up the offense.”
The Huskies are set to open the season as host to Rhode Island September 6. Overall, the Huskies have five games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb and will be host to Brigham Young University in Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium, southwest of Chicago October 24. The Huskies will play at both Maryland and Iowa.