Good info on the RB situation as well

NIU football: Lynch adjusting to life as Huskies' running backs coach

By JESSE SEVERSON jseverson @shawmedia.com — Published: Friday, March 24, 2017 11:43 p.m. CDT
Updated: Friday, March 24, 2017 11:44 p.m. CDT


Northern Illinois University running backs coach Jordan Lynch gives directions to players during practice at Huskie Stadium Friday March 24, 2017. Mary Beth Nolan for Shaw Media (Mary Beth Nolan)
DeKALB – When the Northern Illinois football team was running team drills, Jordan Lynch stood 10 yards behind the offense with his arms crossed and a whistle around his neck.

He looked like coach Jordan Lynch.

The first-year running backs coach and the Huskies completed their third spring practice on a windy Friday night at Huskie Stadium.

“I’m still trying to get my coaching attire, I’m going to wear a visor soon,” Lynch laughed. “It’s a different feeling, but it’s good.”

Lynch, who recently walked away from his playing career to take the coaching position with his alma mater, had plenty of energy Friday. During team drills, running back Dwayne Milton broke off a long run, and Lynch hurried over to give him an emphatic high-five after the play.

“As a competitor, absolutely, every time I go out there I want to strap them up, but that’s not going to happen,” said Lynch, who said he incorporated running back drills he ran during his brief stint with the Bears in 2014 for his practices with the Huskies. “I’m going to have to compete with my players, and that’s a new way for me to compete. It’s going great; it’s definitely a new adjustment, but I’m adapting pretty quick.”

For one of the Huskies running backs, Lynch is a familiar face – and not just because he’s plastered on the walls of the Yordon Center. Redshirt senior back Jordan Huff was a true freshman when Lynch was a senior in 2013, when the former NIU quarterback was a Heisman Trophy candidate.

“It’s kind of different. I still don’t call him coach Lynch, I just call him Lynch,” Huff said with a laugh. “It’s different, but we make it work.”

Huff has by far the most experience among the running backs in the Huskies’ spring camp. As a junior last season, he finished second on the team with 703 yards on 111 carries (a 6.3 average) and scored five touchdowns while being the No. 2 back behind Joel Bouagnon.

In a comeback win over Eastern Michigan, the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Huff racked up a season-high 173 yards and three touchdowns to get the Huskies back in the game in the second half.

“Obviously, he’s a home run hitter, and that’s his biggest strength, and it’s probably his weakness – he tries to hit it too much, he’ll tell you that,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “He needs to work on that.”

Huff said during the spring he’s working on blocking and run reads, while trying to make the younger backs better.

Marcus Jones returns after missing nearly the entire 2016 season with a broken left hand, which he suffered in the second game of the year. After getting eight carries for 109 yards as a true freshman in 2015, Jones said that two months ago his request for a medical redshirt from last year was approved – making him a redshirt sophomore for 2017.

“Last year, I had two great backs in front of me,” Jones said. “So this year, I’m hoping me and Jordan will be explosive. I’m excited for it.”

Redshirt junior Tommy Mister, an Indiana transfer who went to Chicago St. Rita, had nine carries for 49 yards (a 5.4 average) for the Huskies last year – including a season-high 22 yards on four carries in a win over Buffalo.

After sitting out last season because he transferred from Virginia, redshirt freshman Tre Harbison is eligible for the Huskies. A highly touted recruit out of North Carolina, the 5-10, 218-pound Harbison had offers from several Power 5 schools and was ranked No. 20 for running backs in the nation by 247Sports. He rushed for 5,700 yards and 100 touchdowns during his time at Crest High School in Shelby, North Carolina.

“Physically, he’s a bigger back – him and Tommy Mister (6-0, 213 pounds) would fit that – but just because they’re bigger backs doesn’t mean they aren’t home run hitter types,” Carey said of Harbison. “They’re physical, downhill guys, but they have the ability to go, as well.”

Harbison’s new running back coach has liked what he’s seen, too.

“Tre has all the intangibles to be a great running back, that’s what I see in Tre,” Lynch said. “He’s young, so he’s sort of learning his way and learning the playbook, but I like what I see out of him so far.”

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Comments

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I'm excited for Huff this year. He has the opportunity to be a leader on the team.

Careys quote about him trying to hit a homerun is what kept him as the#2 last year. I remember many on this board dissing JB and demanding Huff be #1. Hopefully Lynch can teach him to follow his blocks and understand the plays design.

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Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

We will need a 1500 yard rusher next year if we want any success, especially if Graham is QB1.

(03-26-2017 10:30 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

Yea, seeing that he averaged well over 6 yards per carry again last year, I'd hate to change much about how he runs. It's not like he's failing by trying for some home runs. Wolfe got a lot of his long TD runs by bouncing it outside when there wasn't any running room created by the play that was called.

(03-26-2017 01:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 10:30 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

Yea, seeing that he averaged well over 6 yards per carry again last year, I'd hate to change much about how he runs. It's not like he's failing by trying for some home runs. Wolfe got a lot of his long TD runs by bouncing it outside when there wasn't any running room created by the play that was called.

I was told the O looks much different in the run game this spring with an unbalanced running game QB in Shotgun with two RBs split off two one side of the qb. So both backs are on one side of the qb with two wr out on the same side as well

Barry Sanders wouldn't play for Carey. Too many 1,-1,1,4,85 yard runs.
It is nice someone on that team wanted to take it the distant since JB couldn't.

(03-26-2017 01:58 PM)randy6969 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 01:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 10:30 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

Yea, seeing that he averaged well over 6 yards per carry again last year, I'd hate to change much about how he runs. It's not like he's failing by trying for some home runs. Wolfe got a lot of his long TD runs by bouncing it outside when there wasn't any running room created by the play that was called.

I was told the O looks much different in the run game this spring with an unbalanced running game QB in Shotgun with two RBs split off two one side of the qb. So both backs are on one side of the qb with two wr out on the same side as well

Good. It's time to adjust the offense to fit our personnel. We don't have the players we did to run our normal offense. I'm all for mixing it up


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(03-26-2017 01:58 PM)randy6969 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 01:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 10:30 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

Yea, seeing that he averaged well over 6 yards per carry again last year, I'd hate to change much about how he runs. It's not like he's failing by trying for some home runs. Wolfe got a lot of his long TD runs by bouncing it outside when there wasn't any running room created by the play that was called.

I was told the O looks much different in the run game this spring with an unbalanced running game QB in Shotgun with two RBs split off two one side of the qb. So both backs are on one side of the qb with two wr out on the same side as well

Interesting. Wonder why they decided to do that.

(03-26-2017 04:23 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 01:58 PM)randy6969 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 01:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-26-2017 10:30 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Huff needed to hit homeruns last year. Our offense was so terrible when Maddie was not our QB.

Yea, seeing that he averaged well over 6 yards per carry again last year, I'd hate to change much about how he runs. It's not like he's failing by trying for some home runs. Wolfe got a lot of his long TD runs by bouncing it outside when there wasn't any running room created by the play that was called.

I was told the O looks much different in the run game this spring with an unbalanced running game QB in Shotgun with two RBs split off two one side of the qb. So both backs are on one side of the qb with two wr out on the same side as well

Interesting. Wonder why they decided to do that.

My guess is trying to get the extra blocker in the backfield without having the QB be the one running

On a side note. Rashaan Melvin Aka Sticks was at practice this week sharing knowledge with the team.