I wrote something recently that wasn't true; I stated I will root against NIU because of Coach Carey. I have never and will never root against my alma mater.

I was frustrated because of the news Coach Carey signed an extension. I've never been shy expressing my distaste for the way the program has progressed under his guidance. The secretive re-upping of his contract didn't sit well with me - as I know it didn't with a lot of folks who are unhappy with the direction of our team under the Carey regime.

I still get a charge every time I see the NIU logo on my television screen. I love watching the team on the field and I get chills remembering my time in DeKalb. I will always hope for the best for our university and our program.

I know that my dislike for Coach Carey (the coach, not the person) began early in his tenure. The conference title loss to Bowling Green, when a victory would have put us in a second consecutive access bowl, was the worst coached game I have ever witnessed in my lifetime as a football player or fan. That loss changed everything for this program. We could have moved into the elite with that bowl appearance. My very first post on this site elaborated about that extensively. I thought everyone would agree with me, however I got absolutely crushed. It took some time, however many started to come to my way of thinking.

That said, I haven't always been fair. This program has been consistently good - just not great. Much like many of the Carey supporters tend to overlook his deficiencies, I am quick to blame anything that goes wrong on his coaching and his program.

We have done good things during Carey's time here. We have had success in the MAC, stayed relevant, and consistently stayed bowl eligible. These are positives and I get it why that's enough for some people.

It's not enough for me, though. I remember what it was like when our program made it to the Orange Bowl. That's what I want to chase. I want our program to get back to being an elite mid-major. We were there. I think we can get back.

But we won't get back under Coach Carey, at least if he is unwilling to change his style of coaching. This grind it out, field position style of game management is killing our program, slowly but surely.

A very telling comment was written on this site by Lord Stanley. He wrote "Yawn. I was flipping back and forth between the Huskies and Men in Black 2". This is in reference to our last game, a seven point game. When an ardent Huskie fan would prefer to watch a tired fifteen year old movie instead of a tightly contested Huskie game - that's a big problem.

Our team is hopelessly boring. We see fan attrition in the stands, on campus, and now even on television. We are going to be hard pressed to find offensive recruits that want to come play in the system. I fear that if our defense begins to slip we will not be able to stay at the competitive level we currently are in the MAC.

What happened to the days when we used to shoot it out with Toledo or Kent State? I'd be thrilled to watch another one of those 61-58 games.

We once were the midwest version of Oregon with an innovative offense, crazy uniforms, and an energized fan base. I, for one, miss those days.

I will try to do my part to lay off the critical Carey comments; what good does it do? We are stuck with him for another few years so I will hope he grows as a coach.

He has done amazing things shaping our defense - tough to argue against that and I applaud him for it. For the love of God, though, turn over the offense to someone with a sharper mind. Bring someone in from the outside. No more Coach U or any Carey croney. Let our new coach have free reign. Let's do something to reinvigorate this program. Good is nice, but let's shoot for great.

I think the sadest part, is the indirect impact on attendence. It was miserable this year, 5 years ago we would have sold out the Utah game.

As bad as Carey is, he is not the reason people.arent watching NIU football any more. It all starts and ends with the ESPn deal. No question about that

(11-18-2018 12:02 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  As bad as Carey is, he is not the reason people.arent watching NIU football any more. It all starts and ends with the ESPn deal. No question about that

The ESPN deal took away games that would have been scheduled on Saturday otherwise. No more, no less.

ESPN has nothing to do with the boring style of football NIU plays. ESPN offers all of us the opportunity to watch the Huskies play from the comfort of our own homes.

We have begun to stop watching.

(11-18-2018 12:14 AM)VegasHuskie Wrote:  

(11-18-2018 12:02 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  As bad as Carey is, he is not the reason people.arent watching NIU football any more. It all starts and ends with the ESPn deal. No question about that

The ESPN deal took away games that would have been scheduled on Saturday otherwise. No more, no less.

ESPN has nothing to do with the boring style of football NIU plays. ESPN offers all of us the opportunity to watch the Huskies play from the comfort of our own homes.

We have begun to stop watching.

My only point was Carey has nothing to do with why there is no fanbase anymore. It has been a decade plus of the ESPN deal chiseling away at the season ticket base. The deal is literally threatening the survival of MAC football

These are NIU's published attendance #s this year. Go ahead and try to determine when the weekday games started, go ahead, we'll wait.

Utah 16762
CMU 12354
Ohio 12138
Toledo 5887
Miami 4878

It's happening everywhere. Playing all weekends will help abit, but I gotta think the days of us drawing over 20K are simply gone.

For the record, i want the weekend games back, afternoons. And let's play a local school once a year, an ISU, WIU, SIU, etc.. I would settle for attendance averaging 16-19K per game.

Vegas, you expressed my thoughts exactly. I too lost faith in Carey after the BG debacle. Carey is willing to settle for “good enough”. That’s not good enough for me. I know we can do better because I’ve seen it under Novak, Kill, and Doeren.

I have now lost faith in SF as well since he has shown he is willing to reward that level of performance. We have been dealt a triple blow with RC, SF, and ESPN. I don’t see this situation changing any time soon.

I had a mentor tell me many years ago that my goal should be “not as good as but better than”. We will probably never get to the P5 level but I hope we can return to exciting football and be the best of the G5. The question is, how long will SF and RC continue to be the face of this program?

(11-18-2018 01:01 AM)NIU84 Wrote:  These are NIU's published attendance #s this year. Go ahead and try to determine when the weekday games started, go ahead, we'll wait.

Utah 16762
CMU 12354
Ohio 12138
Toledo 5887
Miami 4878

It's happening everywhere. Playing all weekends will help abit, but I gotta think the days of us drawing over 20K are simply gone.

For the record, i want the weekend games back, afternoons. And let's play a local school once a year, an ISU, WIU, SIU, etc.. I would settle for attendance averaging 16-19K per game.

It just depends if you played all games on a Saturday for a decade, you would add to your fanbase every year. I think what people forget is we have been working on destroying our fanbase for over decade. This has not happened overnight, each year we shake another layer off the fanbase core. We are almost completely down to zero now. NIU and the MAC have no one to blame but themselves. We did this to ourselves.

(11-18-2018 01:01 AM)NIU84 Wrote:  These are NIU's published attendance #s this year. Go ahead and try to determine when the weekday games started, go ahead, we'll wait.

Utah 16762
CMU 12354
Ohio 12138
Toledo 5887
Miami 4878

It's happening everywhere. Playing all weekends will help abit, but I gotta think the days of us drawing over 20K are simply gone.

For the record, i want the weekend games back, afternoons. And let's play a local school once a year, an ISU, WIU, SIU, etc.. I would settle for attendance averaging 16-19K per game.

Has anyone had discussions with the athletic department on this? Interested to know their thoughts. Are they throwing their hands up and dumbfounded? Those numbers are what I would expect at MVC football.

3 EIU games in Charleston outdrew NIU/Toledo #FreetheMAC

I appreciate you putting aside your dislike of Carey to give an open analysis of his time here. While at times I sound like a Carey supporter I’m really not. What I am is a certain NIU fan group mitigater. I think so much of the hatred of Carey comes from that 2013 championship - what could have been- mind set. My position has been that nothing truly impactful was lost. NIU lost to the better qb that day. A much better qb. In fact, Matt Johnson would have been a 3x Mac champion had he not gotten hurt in 2014 allowing NIU and Hare to sneak one in. That alone would have put Johnson in the top 5 all time mac qbs along with his rating and TD rate. The 2013 team was not as good as the 2012. The defense was far worse giving up a TD more a game. IMO had they gotten by BG they would have been blown out in a NY6 game. That may do more harm than good. The SOS, NIUs being the third worst in the country that year after being second worst in the country the year before, argument would have gotten as much attention as the team. Like UCF this year.

Carey has many flaws. All the mac coaches do. How’s the Tim Lester hire in WMU? Or even Candle in Toledo? Honestly, Mac coaches are rarely really good. What coach in the west would you take first? I honestly don’t know who I’d rank first. None??

This year has been a mixed bag. And I can see it all coming down to the MACC as to Carey being worth a damn or not. He’s unlikable, annoying and frustrating. Yet he has this team in the championship with one of the worst qbs and offenses to ever make that game. So confusing.

What makes you think that if we beat BG and go to the BCS bowl game that we would continue the G5 run for several years??? The main reason was one player, Jordan Lynch. He was a once in a generation player, and almost won the Heisman.


My main regret is losing Jerry Kill. He was the architect of the Orange Bowl team and I wonder what kind of run we could of had if he did not leave. If he stayed along with his staff, I personally do believe we have a Boise run.

Look what he did at Minnesota, he had them in top 25 and a NY day bowl.

I think we would have a better QB for sure with Kill.....

(11-18-2018 01:21 AM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  

(11-18-2018 01:01 AM)NIU84 Wrote:  These are NIU's published attendance #s this year. Go ahead and try to determine when the weekday games started, go ahead, we'll wait.

Utah 16762
CMU 12354
Ohio 12138
Toledo 5887
Miami 4878

It's happening everywhere. Playing all weekends will help abit, but I gotta think the days of us drawing over 20K are simply gone.

For the record, i want the weekend games back, afternoons. And let's play a local school once a year, an ISU, WIU, SIU, etc.. I would settle for attendance averaging 16-19K per game.

Has anyone had discussions with the athletic department on this? Interested to know their thoughts. Are they throwing their hands up and dumbfounded? Those numbers are what I would expect at MVC football.

For comparison: NIU's average attendance this year was 10,400, and Illinois State's is 9,260. Northern Iowa's game average is also 10,400. So you WIN! MVC numbers indeed!!

I like your analysis which I believe is fair. I do believe that, if Carey is a good coach, he'll recognize the offense has steadily worsened and major change is needed. But, I suspect we won't see any major change in the off season.

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

(11-18-2018 05:53 PM)NIUTrekker Wrote:  I like your analysis which I believe is fair. I do believe that, if Carey is a good coach, he'll recognize the offense has steadily worsened and major change is needed. But, I suspect we won't see any major change in the off season.

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

There is absolutely zero chance anything would ever change, zero, you are correct.

I don't think many of us that aren't 'calling for Carey's head every game' believe he's the greatest coach in the history of CFB...we just understand that there are many things that go into coaching and that expectations of NIU regularly breaking into the national discussion were quite a bit unrealistic and as someone else said, mainly because we had 1 remarkable player.

Some of this is terminology, if you truly believe Carey is 'settling' and really is OK being 7-5 and only scoring 7 points a game, I think you're crazy, seriously...actually think about that, no matter how many times MD says that, any competitive coach 'settling' like that, it's ridiculous and just makes those that bring it up seem dumb.

I think almost all of us can agree the offense this year (and the last couple of years) is simply not good enough, I would greatly assume Carey knows that too. It's on him to fix it, recruiting and playcalling, but to think they're just 'settling' is just dumb.

(11-18-2018 06:17 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  I don't think many of us that aren't 'calling for Carey's head every game' believe he's the greatest coach in the history of CFB...we just understand that there are many things that go into coaching and that expectations of NIU regularly breaking into the national discussion were quite a bit unrealistic and as someone else said, mainly because we had 1 remarkable player.

Some of this is terminology, if you truly believe Carey is 'settling' and really is OK being 7-5 and only scoring 7 points a game, I think you're crazy, seriously...actually think about that, no matter how many times MD says that, any competitive coach 'settling' like that, it's ridiculous and just makes those that bring it up seem dumb.

I think almost all of us can agree the offense this year (and the last couple of years) is simply not good enough, I would greatly assume Carey knows that too. It's on him to fix it, recruiting and playcalling, but to think they're just 'settling' is just dumb.

I think the thing that pains so many Carey questioners, is that NIU has shot itself in the foot so so so so so many times with self inflicted wounds. Noone expects NIU to be in the hunt for a top 25 spot every year, but I think its reasonable to expect a head coach to put his players in best position possible to be successful. Carey is the antithesis of that, success comes in spite of the head coach. That is the frustrating part of it all.

(11-18-2018 06:17 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  I don't think many of us that aren't 'calling for Carey's head every game' believe he's the greatest coach in the history of CFB...we just understand that there are many things that go into coaching and that expectations of NIU regularly breaking into the national discussion were quite a bit unrealistic and as someone else said, mainly because we had 1 remarkable player.

Some of this is terminology, if you truly believe Carey is 'settling' and really is OK being 7-5 and only scoring 7 points a game, I think you're crazy, seriously...actually think about that, no matter how many times MD says that, any competitive coach 'settling' like that, it's ridiculous and just makes those that bring it up seem dumb.

I think almost all of us can agree the offense this year (and the last couple of years) is simply not good enough, I would greatly assume Carey knows that too. It's on him to fix it, recruiting and playcalling, but to think they're just 'settling' is just dumb.

There is no way that Carey prefers to have an ineffective O with low scoring close games. He is playing the hand he has been dealt; more appropriately playing the hand he dealt himself. I am sure Carey knows the O is ineffective; the issue is can he fix it? Obviously not this year; that ship has sailed and what we have seen is what we will get for the remainder of this season. It sounds like Wright and Valenti both have the potential to be effective QBs in this system, so it looks like he and other coaches have taken some steps to correct the O. Hopefully it works out and we get at least an effective O.

(11-18-2018 09:01 PM)NILAW Wrote:  

(11-18-2018 06:17 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  I don't think many of us that aren't 'calling for Carey's head every game' believe he's the greatest coach in the history of CFB...we just understand that there are many things that go into coaching and that expectations of NIU regularly breaking into the national discussion were quite a bit unrealistic and as someone else said, mainly because we had 1 remarkable player.

Some of this is terminology, if you truly believe Carey is 'settling' and really is OK being 7-5 and only scoring 7 points a game, I think you're crazy, seriously...actually think about that, no matter how many times MD says that, any competitive coach 'settling' like that, it's ridiculous and just makes those that bring it up seem dumb.

I think almost all of us can agree the offense this year (and the last couple of years) is simply not good enough, I would greatly assume Carey knows that too. It's on him to fix it, recruiting and playcalling, but to think they're just 'settling' is just dumb.

There is no way that Carey prefers to have an ineffective O with low scoring close games. He is playing the hand he has been dealt; more appropriately playing the hand he dealt himself. I am sure Carey knows the O is ineffective; the issue is can he fix it? Obviously not this year; that ship has sailed and what we have seen is what we will get for the remainder of this season. It sounds like Wright and Valenti both have the potential to be effective QBs in this system, so it looks like he and other coaches have taken some steps to correct the O. Hopefully it works out and we get at least an effective O.

I totally disagree with you on that, an offense that is not productive does not risk mistakes. Making mistakes is 100 percent the ball game for Carey, he thinks the other team will outmistake his team, that is his coaching philosophy.

(11-18-2018 09:25 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-18-2018 09:01 PM)NILAW Wrote:  

(11-18-2018 06:17 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  I don't think many of us that aren't 'calling for Carey's head every game' believe he's the greatest coach in the history of CFB...we just understand that there are many things that go into coaching and that expectations of NIU regularly breaking into the national discussion were quite a bit unrealistic and as someone else said, mainly because we had 1 remarkable player.

Some of this is terminology, if you truly believe Carey is 'settling' and really is OK being 7-5 and only scoring 7 points a game, I think you're crazy, seriously...actually think about that, no matter how many times MD says that, any competitive coach 'settling' like that, it's ridiculous and just makes those that bring it up seem dumb.

I think almost all of us can agree the offense this year (and the last couple of years) is simply not good enough, I would greatly assume Carey knows that too. It's on him to fix it, recruiting and playcalling, but to think they're just 'settling' is just dumb.

There is no way that Carey prefers to have an ineffective O with low scoring close games. He is playing the hand he has been dealt; more appropriately playing the hand he dealt himself. I am sure Carey knows the O is ineffective; the issue is can he fix it? Obviously not this year; that ship has sailed and what we have seen is what we will get for the remainder of this season. It sounds like Wright and Valenti both have the potential to be effective QBs in this system, so it looks like he and other coaches have taken some steps to correct the O. Hopefully it works out and we get at least an effective O.

I totally disagree with you on that, an offense that is not productive does not risk mistakes. Making mistakes is 100 percent the ball game for Carey, he thinks the other team will outmistake his team, that is his coaching philosophy.

I am actually going to agree with MD. I don't think I've authored that line very often.

Coach Carey has increasingly become more conservative with his offense every season since he took charge of the ship. As MD says; I believe that is his coaching modus operandi

When he first began, as a very green division one head coach, he seemed to kind of roll with the coaching style and program that was already in place from his predecessors. However, as he gained experience and confidence, he changed the mold of the team into what we currently see.

Our former QB, young Mr. Santa, is a prime example of a player that didn't fit that mold. He showed flashes of being a very dynamic, however with his aggressive style, he made mistakes. He didn't last.

Kenny Goladay is going to be an NFL star - yet he was grossly underutilized at NIU. Drew Hare looked to have the potential to breakout initially, however he was so afraid to turn the ball over he consistently overthrew receivers by ten yards. The kid (who I am drawing a blank on his name) that we did everything in our power to not play at QB (including changing his position) showed flashes of brilliance when Coach Carey was forced to play him at QB because of multiple injuries.

I think Coach just wants to play conservative and doesn't care if the offense doesn't score many points, so long as the other team scores less. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with that philosophy - the Baltimore Ravens won a Super Bowl doing just that.

It just sucks to watch, it's dull, and I preferred the high octane offense pre-Carey (and even early Carey).