In the months since the 2024 college football season, Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock swears every NIU football fan has told him they were at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 7.
It was a historic moment for the program. He also knows the math doesn’t check out.
“If I had a dollar for everyone who said they were at the game, I think I’d have about a million dollars in NIL,” Hammock said. “We understand there were only about 80,000 people there that day.”
The Northern Illinois faithful enjoyed that win over the Irish. They also got to enjoy a two-overtime win over Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. In year seven, Hammock’s program remains successful as it prepares to make a jump to the Mountain West.
That success is the opposite of most college football programs. NIU doesn’t have a choice in some ways; the Huskies’ NIL coffers aren’t as flush as other big-name programs.
But, NIU chooses to go against the grain in some capacities. Hammock’s staff uses the transfer portal as a secondary resource, prioritizes walk-on players, is making the tight end position a focal point of their offense and, when they do dip into the transfer portal, choose players who have proven stats as opposed to on-paper potential.
“I take a lot of pride in that because you have to be really, really good to do it with less,” Hammock said. “I take pride in that I don’t have what other people have. I take a lot of pride in being able to do exactly what somebody else can do with less. And if people actually study people and what makes people successful, great people do a lot more with less.”
Hammock has been using this formula since the beginning of the NIL era, and it’s working at NIU.
That operation will be tested in the coming year.
The backstory:
Hammock doesn’t just pride himself on Northern Illinois’ ability to develop players. In fact, a handful of the players who came with Hammock to Chicago were walk-on players who earned scholarships.
Quinn Urwiler, Abiathar Curry, Dane Pardridge and Muhammed Jammeh were all walk-on players who earned scholarships. That’s what Hammock likes.
“They got an edge, they got a chip on their shoulders,” Hammock said.
But, looking at walk-ons as the next line of players will be a challenge. The recently passed House v. NCAA settlement will limit rosters for football programs by eliminating the 85-scholarship limit, capping rosters at 105 players.
Schools that have larger rosters which exceed 105 players, including walk-ons, will be required to make cuts to reach the new limit. The roster spots No. 106 through 118, which Hammock pointed to as the spots where he found his valuable walk-ons, will not exist.
Hammock and NIU will need to adapt. But, prioritizing the transfer portal isn’t a way NIU will move.
It’s not about the NIL promises other teams can make. The Huskies can’t compete with some of those. It’s about the player that leaves for personal gain as opposed to trying to improve the team.
“Money can’t buy you heart,” Hammock said. “Money can’t buy you physicality. Money can’t buy you togetherness. Money can’t buy you a team.”
The NIL era has been around for a short while, but Hammock has already seen NIL-built teams struggle to come together quickly.
“As soon as one thing doesn’t go your way, you don’t know how to respond,” Hammock said.
What’s next:
Hammock’s trust in his walk-on program is so high, he spoke for them on Thursday.
NIU isn’t immune to players that will leave for NIL promises. Instead., Hammock has a handful of players who might not have been ready for FBS football at the start of the season, but are ready to take the stage after a season of preparation and work.
“Yeah, we lost that guy, but this guy’s better,” Hammock said. “They hope you leave and they hope you graduate.”
Hammock also has players he’s invested in who opt to stay instead of pursuing NIL fortunes.
“It ain’t about the money, man,” Williams said. “It’s about the, the people who put faith in me and obviously they sold the seed to watch me grow. So I feel like I’ll be doing them a disservice to go somewhere else instead of making the most outta the opportunity I got here.”
Now, that process will be tested further.
It’s not just about the settlement limiting potential walk-ons. It’s about NIU playing in the MAC for one final season, meaning the Huskies will have a target on their back. It’s about the looming departure to the Mountain West, which will bring heightened challenges and bigger stages.
Still, a confident Hammock took to the podium Thursday knowing what he does is the opposite of what the college football world says he should do.
That confidence goes right to his players, too.
“I trust my guys and I know our ability to evaluate and develop. We got good kids in our program and good players,” Hammock said. “They’ll go toe to toe with anybody.”
That belief in his players, and his operation, is what makes the wins over Notre Dame and in other big games much sweeter.
“If we don’t beat ourselves, why can’t we beat the opponent?”
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