I know it starts from the top. Peters and Baker realize the benefits of a good football program. We have had good ADs(Jiff excluded). Novak set the table but Kill, Doeren and now Carey have continued the process. We have added Yordon Center and Chessick IPF. Stadium upgrades on the way.

What other factors have helped NIU go from Doormat of MAC to Powerhouse?

having players succeed while playing at NIU led them to the NFL. Recruits see this, and it helps recruiting!

The Dog Fans will the team to achieve glory like at no other place.


Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

Proximity to the Paperback Grotto...

I would argue that the period of dominance didn't begin until 2010. The years prior to that were good, but not great.

Dominance has sustained for a variety of reasons:

-We've had the 2 best QBs in team history the last 4 years, one was even a finalist for the Heisman trophy.
-Consistency on offense; after Kill & co left, Doeren and Canada installed the fast paced spread offense we know today and when Doeren left, Carey wisely maintained the style to establish continuity.
-Kill, despite his flaws as an in-game coach (which are still occuring in Minnesota mind you), was indeed a recruiting machine and brought in some of the best players the team has ever had.
-Doeren and his staff were great developers of the talent they were given. Harnish had his best ever season under them. Lynch became great under their watch. Jay Niemann turned Jimmie Ward into a beast at safety. And most importantly, Doeren and staff taught those players how to win the big games.
-Many other reasons.

Greatness doesn't happen for one reason, or even two or three.

(09-10-2014 08:34 AM)Who You Crappin? Wrote:  Proximity to the Paperback Grotto...

Exactly! Thus leading to an increase in player testosterone levels and enhanced man beast domination (i.e. Jordan Lynch)

(09-10-2014 08:43 AM)NIU8484 Wrote:  

(09-10-2014 08:34 AM)Who You Crappin? Wrote:  Proximity to the Paperback Grotto...

Exactly! Thus leading to an increase in player testosterone levels and enhanced man beast domination (i.e. Jordan Lynch)

So did you see Jordan Lynch is the Grotto? I think you mistaken Dog Fan for him

(09-10-2014 08:43 AM)NIU8484 Wrote:  

(09-10-2014 08:34 AM)Who You Crappin? Wrote:  Proximity to the Paperback Grotto...

Exactly! Thus leading to an increase in player testosterone levels and enhanced man beast domination (i.e. Jordan Lynch)

coach novak set the table and coaches Kill, Doeran and Carey are all cut out of the same cloth. They and the ADs all advaned the ball forward. Also, the recruits fit the NIU profile. All good

Just to piggyback of Barsema a little bit:

Harnish and Lynch had a lot to do with it. I think the first half of the Northwestern game last week was really the first time it hit me just how special Harnish (and especially) Lynch were. NIU probably beats NU by 4 TDs if Lynch was still there this year. They're a huge reason why.

I think the 2nd biggest reason was the hiring of Doeren and the offense he brought in. If Kill was still the head coach, NIU would still have had really good teams, but I think they would have dropped a couple games here and there just because of how conservative that offense was. The Doeren offense has taken the program to the next level, IMO. The reason I'm not as hard on Jiff as many others seem to be is because he hired Doeren which was a great hire, but I think hiring Carey was a really smart move as well. I really would like to see them hire from within to try to keep the systems the same if Carey leaves, but I'm not sure there's a clear replacement right now. I thought Neimann would leave, Kane would be promoted to DC, and then he would be the guy, but that hasn't happened. Cole isn't going to be a HC, and I really don't know much about Neimann.

Kill, Doeren, and Carey have all done a really nice job of identifying talent to fit the systems and developing said talent. All the guys in the program for a better part of like 6-7 years now seem to be high character, hard workers.

How much of an impact the midweek ESPN games have on recruiting?

(09-10-2014 08:58 AM)Spudskie Wrote:  How much of an impact the midweek ESPN games have on recruiting?

It's probably impossible to say, but there's no doubt it helps. Being able to tell a kid from Florida or Alabama to put on ESPN and watch NIU win certainly helps. There's no doubt NIU has way better athletes now than they did in the Novak years, particularly on defense.

A combination of planetary alignment, quantum fluctuations, and the lingering effects of Barksdale.

As much as I complained about Jiff's scheduling, his hires for head coaches were great. We haven't had very good recruiting rankings so either these guys are finding diamonds in the rough or they just coach them up well and get maximum production out of the guys we have.

good hiring of coaches, and sans Jiff, Groth, Philips, and Frazier are all good ADs.

(09-10-2014 09:23 AM)huskiealum03 Wrote:  good hiring of coaches, and sans Jiff, Groth, Philips, and Frazier are all good ADs.

But Jiff hired 2 of the 3 coaches!

Seriously, Frazier could be the greatest AD in the world when it comes to scheduling and all that, but if he has to hire a coach eventually and ***** it up, I couldn't care less about the other stuff.

I want to win football games.

I think the core reason is the shift in recruiting mindset. We know where to find our big, farmboy linemen (the midwest, mostly) and we're getting a good chunk of our skill players from the South (Florida mostly, some Alabama, etc.) It's clear as day that a 2-star player from a Chicago suburb isn't the same as a 2-star from the South. Rivals does a terrible job of distinguishing this difference and I think our coaches have taken advantage.

This, to me, is what took this program to the next level from where Novak had it. I feel much better having athletes from Charlotte, Mobile, and Orlando roaming our secondary instead of white guys from Lincoln Way East. I still laugh at the thought of Mark Reiter trying to chase Ted Ginn.

Goes without saying that Harnish and Lynch were program changers as well, but our ability to make an Orange Bowl and out-class Northwestern at every position has come from a change in recruiting philosophy.

All of the above gives me confidence that we're going to go into Arkansas and give them a game, if not win.

(09-10-2014 08:58 AM)Spudskie Wrote:  How much of an impact the midweek ESPN games have on recruiting?

probably more then we think

A secondary and supporting element of NIU Football success is academic performance. NIU ranks very high with player GPA and graduation rates. Players need to be academically eligible to contribute on the football field. NIU runs a tight ship in this regard. It is one less thing for the coaching staff to worry about.

(09-10-2014 09:47 AM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(09-10-2014 08:58 AM)Spudskie Wrote:  How much of an impact the midweek ESPN games have on recruiting?

probably more then we think

As much as we all hate the weeknight games for a variety of reasons, it helps tremendously with recruiting especially for guys in the south, and it also helps from a recognition standpoint for casual fans because when NIU plays on an island on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, the television audience is bigger than what it would be were they playing on a Saturday against SEC, Big Ten, and other P5 conference games.

(09-10-2014 09:25 AM)7 Wrote:  

(09-10-2014 09:23 AM)huskiealum03 Wrote:  good hiring of coaches, and sans Jiff, Groth, Philips, and Frazier are all good ADs.

But Jiff hired 2 of the 3 coaches!

Seriously, Frazier could be the greatest AD in the world when it comes to scheduling and all that, but if he has to hire a coach eventually and ***** it up, I couldn't care less about the other stuff.

I want to win football games.

I think Jiff was decent as a caretaker AD. He did enough good things well and avoided the spectacular f*^& up. That's about it.

I think (at least in football), the continuity established under Novak made a huge difference. By the time he left, an identity for NIU football
had been created: NIU is going to play physical, run-first football and be the physically strongest team in the MAC. The subsequent coaches have all added their own fingerprints: Jerry Kill started bringing in athletes we'd never had here before. Dave Doeren updated the offense and maintained the physicality while transitioning us from a RB to QB-centered offense. I'm excited to see what Carey's ultimate legacy is. In many ways, he's more like Novak than any of the others. He never loses sight of what the program's identity was and will continue to be. He hasn't really added to that yet, but I sure would like to see us add next-level defense to the equation. That would be something that only a few schools in the country (and no MAC teams) can match.

NIU's also been able to avoid the spectacular f*^&-up in both the athletic dept and the football program. Both have been on an upward trajectory for a long time. There have been no Gerald O'Dell ADs or Ricardo Patton football coaches. We also don't hemorrhage football coaches after every year any more. Joe was working with some pretty mediocre coaches at the end because everybody moves on more and more quickly. The guys he had that turned things around are working high-profile jobs. The John Bonds and Denny Doornbos' of the world... well, not so much.

A lot to be proud of and thankful for, because it only takes one turd in the punchbowl to torpedo the whole thing.

(09-10-2014 08:38 AM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  I would argue that the period of dominance didn't begin until 2010. The years prior to that were good, but not great.

Dominance has sustained for a variety of reasons:

-We've had the 2 best QBs in team history the last 4 years, one was even a finalist for the Heisman trophy.
-Consistency on offense; after Kill & co left, Doeren and Canada installed the fast paced spread offense we know today and when Doeren left, Carey wisely maintained the style to establish continuity.
-Kill, despite his flaws as an in-game coach (which are still occuring in Minnesota mind you), was indeed a recruiting machine and brought in some of the best players the team has ever had.
-Doeren and his staff were great developers of the talent they were given. Harnish had his best ever season under them. Lynch became great under their watch. Jay Niemann turned Jimmie Ward into a beast at safety. And most importantly, Doeren and staff taught those players how to win the big games.
-Many other reasons.

Greatness doesn't happen for one reason, or even two or three.

Good points, but I'd say that it began in 2008. Harnish's first year, along with Kills. It began our bowl streak and introduced us to the people who would bring us to our MAC West titles. If I were to tell you the year where Huskie football began its march towards the OB, 2008 was the start of the MHE (Modern Huskie Era)