Following a historic 16-14 Week 2 upset of the No. 5-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish last Saturday, Northern Illinois Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock shared his concerns that the national spotlight on the program could lead to star players being poached by Power 4 programs.
Hammock joined “The Triple Option” podcast on Wednesday, sharing that the national spotlight can be a positive for a Group of 5 program but also expressed concern that the same attention could lead to Power 4 programs recruiting his star players away.
“All the time,” Hammock said when asked if he worries about Power 4 programs recruiting his players. “December, I had a bunch of guys come to my office and had different opportunities to explore.
We wind up losing a couple; we lost one to Florida, and we lost one to Louisville, but two didn’t become 12. But the thing that’s hard nowadays is there’s so many extra coaches on the sidelines. So you got guys looking at your roster.”
Hammock continued by detailing how he felt his players were getting recruited in the weeks leading up to the Week 2 upset of Notre Dame.
“We played Western Illinois the first week of the season and then they played Indiana, and I got a coach from Indiana asking me about a couple guys on my team,” Hammock added.
“And I’m thinking to myself, those questions are almost like the NFL personnel department, how did you get this kid? So that makes you feel very uncomfortable from that standpoint.”
The talent loss from athletes jumping from G5 to Power 4 programs has almost always been a constant challenge but has escalated in recent years with the ease of transfer portal restriction.
With NIL potential amongst college football only increasing, Hammock explained that he hopes caring for the players’ families and developing a sense of community within the Huskies program will allow for players to stay as opposed to leaving for bigger programs.
“But you just try to build as best relationships as possible with the kids and the families,” Hammock said. “My thing now is take care of the families of our players that we think can have a chance to do some different things.
So that’s all you can do, hope for the best. Show them you love them as much as possible, and hopefully that still matters to the people in your program.”
In addition to the national spotlight, the Huskies also received $1.4 million for facing off against the Fighting Irish and earned themselves a No. 25 ranking in the Week 3 AP Top 25 Poll. This is the first time since 2013 that Northern Illinois has been ranked within the Top 25.
With Week 3 serving as a bye week for the Huskies, the program will return to action on Sept. 21 when they open Mid-American conference play against the Buffalo Bulls from Huskie Stadium. The game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN+.
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