From HuskieWire Twitter:

Miami (Ohio) has announced that former ‪#NIU‬ football coach Joe Novak will be inducted into Miami's Cradle of Coaches Association.

http://www.muredhawks.com/genrel/052412aac.html

Novak (Miami `67, '68) spent 40 years on the gridiron at the high school and collegiate levels. He returned to Miami as an assistant coach from 1974-76. During that time, Miami won two MAC titles, going undefeated in MAC play in 1974 and 1975, while winning the Tangerine Bowl both of those seasons. Prior to his time at Miami, Novak began his prep coaching career as an assistant at Warren Western Reserve High School in 1968. Elevated to head coach five years later, Novak led Western Reserve to a 12-0 record and Ohio's large school division state title to earn 1972 Coach of the Year honors. He took Western Reserve back to the state finals a year later with an 11-1 record before joining the collegiate ranks. After a combined 22 seasons as an assistant coach at Miami, Illinois (1977-79), Northern Illinois (1980-83) and Indiana (1984-95), Novak assumed the head coaching post at Northern Illinois in 1996 and spent 12 seasons guiding the Huskie program. Novak inherited a struggling NIU program that he guided to four MAC West Division titles (2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005) and two bowl game appearances. The Huskies won the Silicon Valley Bowl during the 2004 season and earned a berth in the Poinsettia Bowl in 2006. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2002 and tabbed Region 3 Division I-A Coach of the Year by the AFCA in 2003. Winning the first seven games of the 2003 season, which included the two biggest wins in program history with upsets of Nov. 15 Maryland and No. 21 Alabama, NIU was ranked as high as 12 in the AP Poll and 14 in the Coaches Poll. Members of his final signing class went on to capture the 2011 MAC Championship. Novak finished his coaching career ranked among the league's top 10 for career wins (63) and MAC wins (47). A stand-out defensive end who spearheaded Miami to MAC Co-Championships in 1965 and 1966, Novak was inducted into the Miami Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007-08.

Nice to see Miami honor him in this manner, it is well deserved. It was coach Joe and the ability to begin hearing Huskie radio broadcasts over the net that reawakened my once dormant interest in the Huskie football program. Since then I have not missed hearing or seeing a game in over a decade.

Well deserved! Thanks for posting.

Way to go Joe!

The success of Miami coaches is nothing less than remarkable. Glad to see Novak will be recognized as one of the brethren.

When the time is right we need to honor Joe in a big way. Renaming Stadium Drive sounds appropriate to me.

(05-24-2012 08:47 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  From HuskieWire Twitter:

Miami (Ohio) has announced that former ‪#NIU‬ football coach Joe Novak will be inducted into Miami's Cradle of Coaches Association.

+1

Congratulations to Coach Joe. His connections to Miami are very important to him. I'm sure this means a lot to him.

(05-24-2012 10:11 PM)HuskiemobileMan Wrote:  When the time is right we need to honor Joe in a big way. Renaming Stadium Drive sounds appropriate to me.

+1

(05-24-2012 10:11 PM)HuskiemobileMan Wrote:  When the time is right we need to honor Joe in a big way. Renaming Stadium Drive sounds appropriate to me.

And when we horseshoe in the south end, it will be Joe Novak Drive connecting into the Joe Novak Plaza!

(05-25-2012 09:53 AM)chihuskie Wrote:  

(05-24-2012 10:11 PM)HuskiemobileMan Wrote:  When the time is right we need to honor Joe in a big way. Renaming Stadium Drive sounds appropriate to me.

+1

Would Joe Novak Way be the right way to call it.

Well deserved. Congrats Coach Joe!

The man resurrected our program from the ash heap and laid the foundation for all of our recent success.

(05-25-2012 03:51 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  The man resurrected our program from the ash heap and laid the foundation for all of our recent success.

yep, we will never have another novak!!!

Congrats coach Joe!

(05-24-2012 10:11 PM)HuskiemobileMan Wrote:  When the time is right we need to honor Joe in a big way. Renaming Stadium Drive sounds appropriate to me.

Agree completely, you can not truly quantify what Joe did for NIU football.

U guys are just asking for an appearance by WD on this thread....

(05-26-2012 10:10 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  U guys are just asking for an appearance by WD on this thread....

Ah yes, but this may be a difficult task for even the always correct WD.

This accolade comes from Miami of Ohio where he will be honored with Randy Ayers & Thad Matta among others.

Reading the summary of Joe's coaching career it started with 22 years as an assistant coach at various programs. It should be painfully obvious to WD that Coach Joe's successes over his 12 years of Head Coaching at NIU are what put him in a position to be selected for this honor.

Ohhh WD....what say you? On second thought, never mind, no one really cares.

(05-26-2012 10:10 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  U guys are just asking for an appearance by WD on this thread....

...and WIS 11