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AFM Magazine


The Right Way

A patient athletic director and
by: David Purdum
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Unlike the NFL, where free agency allows a team to upgrade its roster yearly, rebuilding a struggling college team can be a long, grueling process, usually filled with defeat and frustration. However, a successful resurrection can be one of the most gratifying, fullilling and respected accomplishments of a coach’s career.

Before Bill Snyder took over at Kansas State in 1989, the Wildcats had only one winning season in 18 years and were in the midst of a 26-game losing streak. The streak would eventually reach 29, before Snyder, in his first year, led the Wildcats to a 20-17 victory over North Texas, the only win in the head coach’s first year. Since then, the Wildcats are an impressive 117-52, and presently are one of only seven teams to make nine straight bowl appearances.

“Bill Snyder isn’t the coach of the year, and he isn’t the coach of the decade,” former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer once said. “He’s the coach of the century.”

These days, a similar resurrection is occurring in the small town of DeKalb, Illinois, home of the Northern Illinois Huskies. Actually, with consecutive Mid American Conference Western Division co-championships under their belt and a talented team returning, the Huskies likely have moved past the rebuilding process – consider them resurrected and dangerous.

“This is definitely the most talented team we’ve had,” said eighth-year head coach Joe Novak. “But what we do with that talent on the field is what matters.”

The Huskies’ talent includes the nation’s leading returning rusher, Michael ‘The Burner’ Turner and the nation’s leading punt returner, Dan ‘The Returner’ Sheldon.

Yes, times are good in DeKalb. “Joe (Novak) has done a great job with that program, restoring it back to where it should be,” said former Indiana and Northern Illinois head coach Bill Mallory. “In my opinion, there is a pack of good, solid teams in the MAC, and (Northern Illinois) is getting ready to separate itself.”

The Huskies are coming off an 8-4 season, in which they climbed as high as No. 35 in the rankings – or about 70 spots higher than they were ranked just five years earlier.

In The Beginning

When Novak took over as head Huskie in 1996, NIU was mired in the middle of nine straight losing seasons (1991-1999). He won one game in his first season as a collegiate head coach ... and 0 the next. But according to NIU assistant athletic director Mike Korcek, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the head coach who started out 3-30 in his first three years and the one that was named 2002 MAC Coach of the Year.

“His demeanor and attitude has stayed the same since day one,” said Korcek. “When we were struggling, he was the same pleasant person to work with that he is now that things are looking up.”

Along with his even-keel personality, Novak, a product of Miami, Ohio’s storied “Cradle of Coaches,” brought an impressive reference list. He played on back-to-back MAC championship teams at Miami for Bo Schembechler in 1965 and 1966.

After graduating from Miami in 1967, Novak went on to work as a graduate assistant for Schembechler. He accepted his first head-coaching job in 1972 at Warren, Ohio’s Western Reserve High School. He promptly led the Warriors to a perfect season (12-0) and won the state of Ohio’s first large school division title. The next season, Western Reserve would finish 11-1 and lose in the state title game.

Former Miami head coach Dick Crum and former Illinois head coach Gary Moeller also make an appearance on Novak’s list, as he served as a full-time aide under both before hooking up with former Indiana and Northern Illinois coach Bill Mallory.

“I am real fortunate to have had Joe (Novak) as my defensive coordinator for as long as I did,” said Mallory. “He has all the critical things required to be good coach. He cares about the kids as students and athletes. He has a great passion for the game. Joe has really done a great job restoring that program to where it should be. He's done it the right way.” We have very similar philosophies. We rarely disagreed.” Novak would use the philosophies he learned with Mallory as the foundation for rebuilding Northern Illinois.

After 16 years as defensive coordinator under Mallory – four at Northern Illinois (1980-83) and at 12 at Indiana (1984-95) – Novak accepted the position as head Huskie in 1996.

He came prepared with a plan, or “The Plan” as its known around DeKalb.

“The Plan,” isn’t complicated: recruit within the state and region, work, improve, maximize talent and contend; nor were “The Plan’s” immediate results impressive: a 23-game losing streak was wedged in the middle of that 3-30 start. But as Novak’s demeanor remained stable, so did his dedication to rebuilding the program “the right way.”

“The thought (to make some changes) crossed my mind many times,” he said. “Obviously, when you lose 23 in a row, you do a lot of soul searching. But I saw the success that Bill Mallory had with this philosophy, and I believed in it.”

But it did take time, and Novak credits the patience of NIU Director of Athletics Cary Groth and school presidents John La Tourette and John Peters. Their patience allowed him to resist the temptations of the quick fixes – no large recruiting class of junior college transfers. He would build his program from the bottom up, laying a solid foundation in which players would develop into good players by hard work and experience. Hence, the sign that Novak hung in the Huskies’ locker room, “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.”

Recruiting at home
Novak stresses the importance of focusing Northern Illinois’ recruiting on the state of Illinois, particularly the Chicago area (Dekalb is located approximately 60 miles west of Chicago). “When Coach Mallory was here, that’s what we did was recruit locally,” said Novak. “Not that we didn’t go elsewhere, but the vast majority of our time was spent on players from the area.”

This year’s recruiting class, thought to be one Novak’s best, featured 14 (of 20) players from Illinois – 13 of those are from the Chicago area, including two highly-touted offensive tackles in 6-foot-5, 270 pound Chris Acevedo and 6-foot-6, 300 pound Seren Woodfork-Bey. Acevedo was considered by many as the top offensive line prospect in Chicago. Woodfork-Bey chose the Huskies over Kansas, Northwestern and Central Michigan.

“We have a tremendous recruiting area right down the road, with Chicago,” Novak said. “Certainly, it’s heavily recruited, so we have to do a good job of evaluating talent.”

Even when competing for players against Big 10 programs, such as Illinois, Purdue and Northwestern, Novak’s and his staff’s abilities have shined. In 2001, Gridiron Report surveyed 41 Chicago area high school coaches, and Novak was selected as their favorite collegiate head coach, based on his overall personality and recruiting practices.

“It’s been a great advantage for me to be familiar with the area, state and schools around here,” Novak said. “To be able to get to know coaches on a one-on-one basis – there’s no doubt – it helps out.”

Novak believes players who hail from the surrounding area have an easier transition period, both as students and athletes. And, that, he says, is a recipe for success.

“I think kids are really interested in staying home,” he said. “Maybe 15 to 20 years ago, it was the other way. Today, I think kids and families are interested in keeping close, where Mom, Dad, family and friends can attend a lot of the games.”

‘We play Penn State?’

Since Novak took over, the talent level at NIU has surged - the Huskies led the MAC with 12 Players of the Week and 11 first-team All-MAC members. The Huskies’ strength of schedule is following suit.

This season, the Huskies will host Maryland (Aug. 28) and Iowa State (Sept. 27) and travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on the Crimson Tide (Sept. 20), a schedule that would have drawn a rise out of Novak a few years ago.

In a 1996 press conference, when Novak, in his first year, was asked about the Huskies’ upcoming date with Penn State, he replied, “Penn State? We play Penn State?” Looking in the direction of his bosses, he continued, “That part was whited out on the schedule I was given. I want to renegotiate.”

He didn’t get his wish, and the Nittany Lions pasted the overmatched Huskies 49-0. “It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Last season, NIU posted wins over Wake Forest and, at the time, 16th-ranked Bowling Green, only the school’s second victory over a top-25 team.

“We’re excited about this year’s schedule,” said Novak. “When we started out, we weren’t ready to play a high caliber of team. But now our kids get excited about playing these teams.

“We have two of those games in DeKalb, which is exciting. When you bring people in like (Maryland and Iowa State), you have to pay them a hunk of money, so we had to go out and find us a game, and that was Alabama.

“Last year, we played Wisconsin close (a heart-breaking 24-21 loss at Camp Randall Stadium). We played Illinois when they were Big 10 champs (a 17-12 Illinois victory). Three years ago, we played at Auburn, and I thought we were very competitive with Auburn.”

Novak says it is important for MAC teams to play the bigger schools, using Toledo’s 24-6 win over Penn State in 2000 and Bowling Green’s 51-28 dismantling of Missouri last season as examples. “People in our conference feel that our league is better than it is perceived by a lot of people. In order for us to get the exposure that we need, we have to go out of our league and play big games. And we need to win some of those, so people understand how good the football is in this league.”

Running back Michael Turner will be key in winning any of those big games, as well as helping the Huskies accomplish their No. 1 goal – win the MAC championship and go to the school’s first bowl game since 1983, when Mallory and Novak guided the Huskies to a 20-13 California Bowl victory over Cal State-Fullerton.

Turner rushed 1,915 yards during his junior year, second only to former Penn State and current Kansas City Chiefs’ back Larry Johnson. Toledo coach Tom Amstutz was quoted as saying, “We needed 15 guys to stop Turner. Eleven wasn’t enough.”

So with defenses designed specifically at stopping Turner, how does Novak, who is known as innovative X’s and O’s guy, plan on getting his star the ball?

“I don’t know if we have to be innovative, but we have to be solid at what we run,” Novak said. “Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers used to run the ‘Green Bay Sweep.’ They ran 10-20 times every Sunday. But they did it well every Sunday. That was the secret. And that’s what we have to do this year with Michael – execute well.”

Cradle of Coaches
If the Huskies capture another MAC Conference championship and make their first trip to a bowl game since 1983, could Joe Novak be the next inductee into the “Cradle of Coaches?”

Cradle of Coaches Association - Inductees

1992
Weeb Ewbank
Bob Kurz
Bill Narduzzi
John Pont

1993
Paul Brown
Mel Knowlton
Ara Parseghian

1994
Bill Arnsparger
Paul Dietzel
Jack Llewellyn

1995
Jack Faulkner
Joe Codiano
Bill Mallory

1996
John Brickels
Hal Paul
Dick Shrider

1997
Jerry Hanlon
John McVay
Frank Shands

1998
Carmen Cozza
Marvin Morehead
Ernie Plank

2001
Dick Crum
Darrell Hedric
Lou Kaczmarek
Rich Voiers
Walter Alston
Earl Blaik
Leann Davidge
Woody Hayes
Raymond Ray
George Rider
William Rohr

2002

Peggy Bradley Doppes
Denny Marcin
Nick Mourouzis
Jim Rose
Marvin McCollum
Ron Zook






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