Goodbye, Coach Novak

I was very sad to see that Northern Illinois' football coach, Joe Novak, retired this past Monday. He was one class act. I wish he had been able to do so with a good season under his belt, but that wasn't to be. This year's team ended up 2-10. Even so, he could have kept the job if he wanted it.

He brought Northern up to the level of competition it now enjoys. Before this year, Northern had 7 straight winning seasons and finished tied for first in the Mid-American Conference's Western Division four times to go along with a tie for 2nd and tie for third. Now, that's some good football.

He took over a struggling Northern football team with antiquated facilities, a lack of morale, and a losing tradition, and turned it around. Our previous coaches either didn't work out, including Lee Corso, or, if they had any success, were immediately gone to a bigger name school--Mallory and Pettibone. To Joe Novak's credit, even after success finally came under his regime, he did not leave. He stayed to build the program.

Six words that apply here: Toughness, Leadership, Accountability, Teachering, Learning, Winner. Joe Novak was all of these.

After playing collegiate ball at Miami of Ohio, he started coaching football at Warren Western Reserve High School in Ohio. He also had stints as assistant coach at Illinois, Miami, and Indiana.

His first three years at Northern, starting in 1996, were especially hard with records of 1-10, 0-11, and 2-9. At one point, there were 23 losses in a row. I was beginning to wonder about him. But, he stayed the course. He wasn't just interested in good ball players. He wanted men who had high morals and who strove academically. It finally started to turn in 1999 with a 5-6 record.

The 2003 season was special. NIU knocked off Maryland and ALABAMA who were both ranked in the top 25 at the time, and then went on the defeat Iowa State. We made our first-ever appearance in the top 25 and eventually got to #12!!!

Then came those seven straight winning seasons and finishes in the top rungs of the MAC West.
2000- 6-5 Tied third
2001- 6-5 Tied first
2002- 8-4 Tied first
2003 10-2 Tied second
2004- 9-3 Tied first
2005- 7-5 Tied first
2006- 7-6

I hope Northern will be able to find a coach willing to commit to continuing Coach Novak's plan. I also hope we can find one who won't bolt to a bigger dog as soon as he has any success.

Enjoy That Retirement, Coach Joe. --RoadDog