Novak era has run its course
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Last updated on 00/00/0000 at 12:00 a.m.
It’s time for Joe Novak to call it a career. If he doesn’t think it’s his time, NIU should ask Joe Novak to retire.
Through his on-field production and his off-field demeanor, NIU’s head football coach has made it clear that contending in the MAC – or even competing at all, for that matter – is just not a large enough priority anymore.
Before NIU’s home opener against Southern Illinois, the Huskie faithful celebrated the opening of the beautiful Yordon Center adorning the north end of the stadium. Well, thank goodness NIU found that $14 million under the couch cushion, because at this point the building’s addition has been the equivalent of decorating a jail cell.
With the Huskies settling comfortably into the MAC cellar with a 1-6 record following Saturday’s loss to Western Michigan, it seems hard to fathom that NIU played in a bowl game against a nationally respected Texas Christian team just 10 months ago. Thankfully for the Huskies, in this day and age of “everybody-gets-a-trophy” sports philosophy, they may still get an invite to “Bill’s Barber Shop Bowl.”
They already lost to Temple, who, before facing the Huskies, had barely won a game since the Cold War.
In the span of just a few seasons, NIU’s football team has gone from being Tony Kornheiser’s flavor of the week to underachieving to sad joke to anonymity.
In the same stadium where fans used to pack the stands, now even Victor E. Huskie is leaving for the bar at halftime. They leave happy thinking a win will be delivered but later find out about collapses. Huskie fans were distraught when Novak’s team choked away the MAC Championship against Akron two years ago. Now, they’d give their autographed Michael Turner jersey just to see NIU in the conversation anymore.
Joe Novak is a good man who deserves the admiration and respect he receives from so many. But after 11 seasons with a 61-66 record, a grand total of zero outright conference titles and in-state blue chip recruits lost to schools from parts unknown, Novak has clearly done all he can for this program.
Though Novak has largely received a pass for going 3-30 over his first three seasons, his career – much like life itself – appears to have come full circle: He’s right back where he started, coaching a team that hasn’t got a prayer of being anything more than a doormat.
It’s not just a lack of on-field talent that’s plaguing the Huskies. Novak’s inability to make the necessary halftime adjustments have proved to be quite possibly the most lethal poison for the Huskies this season.
Of the six games NIU has lost this season, the Huskies led at halftime in three of them – not to mention the 31-14 third quarter advantage the Huskies squandered in the home opener against SIU, a team that literally isn’t even in NIU’s league. And in their only win of the season, a 42-35 “triumph” over perpetual laughing stock Idaho, the Huskies still nearly managed to blow a three-touchdown lead.
On top of that, coaches are jumping ship from NIU like there’s an iceberg on the horizon. Repeated instances of young coaches leaving Novak’s staff for supposedly greener pastures seem to suggest that they knew tomorrow was not looking up for NIU. And now that they’re gone, there is no tomorrow.
NIU needs a young and ambitious coach looking to make a name and willing bring in a dynamic staff that has hope for promotion. Assistant coaches with prowess should be able to earn the head coaching job with a few years rather than working for an institution prone to misguided loyalty.
And so, here stand the NIU Huskies, stuck in the past where they started with Novak. Well, 1996, specifically – a bad team without direction with one win to show for its effort.
Eleven years later it appears another one-win season is likely.
There is only one way for NIU to move out of the past and into the future, and that’s for Joe Novak to move on. His contributions to the university will be forever appreciated, but sometimes it’s better for all parties to just move on.
NIU may be convinced that mediocrity is excellence, but it doesn’t have to accept it.
We can’t move on to 2008 until NIU Athletics lets go of moderate glory and looks to broader horizons.
I see someone hasn't heard of a rebuilding year around here. This is typical, so the team has had a bad year, have you forgot about the fact that NIU has been a MAC power house since 2001? Who started that? You? No, Joe Novak did. Do you think that we just found the cash for the Yordon Center under the couch? NO, Joe Novak and Co. were out recruiting and raising funds...and that Center will still be there long after you have left and taken some journalism job somewhere else.
It isn't time for Joe Novak to retire. If anything its time for fairweather fans like yourselves to decide if you are going to stay on the bandwagon or get off and be left in the dust.
Interesting perspective in your article. Some of your facts and conclusions are competely incorrect, however after a year like this it was obvious that these columns would appear.
Let me correct a couple things first. Joe Novak is not losing assistant coaches because they were "jumping ship like there was an iceberg on the horizon" they leave because they have talent that was recognized by Novak and now come with the experiance of coaching for a great coach like Novak and that makes them very marketable.
Then the bottom line issue - factor in the $$$$ - NIU does not pay its coaches very much. I have personally spoke to a couple of the coaches that left NIU as coordinators and took position coaching jobs at BSC schools and made more than double thier NIU salary with less responsibility. If they move back into a coordinator role at the BSC school they will make more than NIU is paying Novak now. Again with less sleepless nights.
So before you start the FireJoeNovak,com site up maybe you should think about what YOU and the STUDENTS of NIU are willing to come to the table with to make the situation better. PAcking the stands for a whole game would help and cost you nothing. And if you really want to make a statement, maybe start paying for your tickets like many other colleges students. Then you might actually stick around for the game and your input would mean more.
And don't give the excuse about student fees paying for the cost of admission. Other students pay the student fees and hope to get lucky enough to buy a ticket as well. And most of them have not had the peasure of seeing 7 consicutive winning seasons either.
OK with that said, I am not sure that we are not yet ready for a change either. I would hate to see Coach Novak go out like this as this team is not very good. They will be a much better team next year, however that would also mean a new contract for Novak as his is up at the end of the season.
This team would not be so awful if they did not have so many walking wonded there are on the sidelines. But we do and the play calling, especially on the defense is just poor and if Novaks loyalty to the Defensive Coordinator can not be changed then I think its time to roll the dice and start fresh. Lets just hope that those dice don't come up with snake eyes.
Joe Novak is one of the best coaches in Division I college football, and any suggestions that our record is his fault is wrong. Our team has been riddled with injuries, and we are not blessed with great depth of experience. The freshmen and sophomores who have stepped up have played well, but they are forced to play a lot more minutes than the starters would, and fatigue in the fourth quarter is natural. Several of the games were close and could have gone either way. To blame the coach or the gallant young freshmen and sophomores illustrates a lack of knowledge by the author of that article. These kids are playing their hearts out for Joe Novak, who is a fabulous coach. ken chessick
This team lacks players with character. There are too many players on this team who have a sense of entitlement when they haven't achieved anything.
I have some advice for the Northern Star. There has been a long standing agenda against everything NIU athletics. NIU athletics is obviously a sore spot for the paper and all involved, so why even have a sports section or write about it? Not only do you have an agenda but you write things about this subject without even investigating or having anyone on staff that even cares about NIU athletics. Please remove your sports section and let go of the bitterness. At some point you have to let go of the "i got cut from my HS football team" anger :) Sports can be a good thing for a univeristy, and as much as you would like to deny it, the football team has brought alot of positive influence to NIU.
This might be the worst column I have ever read. First of all, Coach Novak has had 23 Assistant Coaches leave in 11 years, Matt Hayes in the Sporting News just last year commented how unbelivable of a coach Novak is to have 7 winning season when losing an average of 2+ assistants a year! All of these assistants have left because they were hired by BCS schools like...Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami FL, Stanford, Illinois (many times)
This isn't a sign of jumping ship, it's a showing of how our successful football progam is noticed and our coaches are poached from us.
I cannot believe that you are blaming our season on Novak, we have 21 guys injured, 3 guys were watching the game from frickin WHEELCHAIRS Saturday after just having surgeries. We don't have a quarterback, tight ends, wide receivers, more importantly defensive line all hurt. No program would survive from that many injuries.
Your paper is always inaccurate, You put a picture of a kid in a suit and said it was Demetrius Jones and it wasn't even close, nice reporting!
Whoever wrote this column is a coward! Why didn't you put your name to the column? You are a fair weather fan at best, please jump ship and don't come back!
I agree. It's time we all realize that our FB program will never, ever contend for a national title. And isn't that what's it all about? Just look south about 300 miles and you can watch a BB program that has gained national exposure on a yearly basis. Southern Illinois has been to the NCAA Tournament 6 years straight and the Sweet 16 twice during that span. The Tournament consists of 64 teams and they all are going after the big prize while only a two teams are selected in FB.
Another poster suggests NIU students should stop whining about student fees and, instead, pay directly for tickets to athletic events. That is a great idea. Students pay $2200 per year in student fees, of which Athletics gets 24.5 percent or $11,000,000 (2006). Eliminate the $500 Fees that students are forced to give to athletics each year and let the students voluntarily decide to support NIU teams. Certainly, a solution more democratic than the current system.
Let's look at some numbers (2005-2006):
Costs: Basketball $2,073.704; Football $4,432,366; All other sports $4,287,758: general athletic department exp $3,298.980 Total $14,089,908.
Revenues: Basketball M & W $522,248; Football $2,265,844; All others $1,001,680; Total $3,789,772 plus $11,194,235 Student Fees = $14,984,007
Good idea. Eliminate Student Fees and institute direct ticket buy. Result: Goodbye NIU athletics
The entire system of student fees needs to be overhauled. Some people are here just to be educated. They could have taken their financial resources and their talent and planted it somewhere else. Others have made off with a lot of booty. In the positions that enable that, they are also more likely to receive Institutional Tuition Waivers. In other words, some people around here have had a free ride and cake too.
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