Northern Illinois University head coach Thomas Hammock summed up the Huskies' 2022 preseason football camp with a simple statement as the team broke camp Sunday.
"This has been the most competitive training camp I've ever been a part of," the 20-year coaching veteran said.
"As far as the urgency, the competitiveness, my staff has done a tremendous job of motivating the guys and getting them to compete. I think our [daily] scoring system has really helped in our development as a program. I think overall how we set up practice with having the cardinal and the black groups allowed us to develop some younger guys. Hearing some of the feedback from the staff about the things that they saw and the things that we've been able to accomplish over the past three weeks, we really feel good about our program and the kids in our program."
While competition, intensity and energy were the hallmarks of nearly each of the previous 18 practices, Sunday's finale in shorts and helmets was an exception with hardly a pass thrown, except while practicing warm-ups. Instead, NIU practiced its game day routine, beginning with the pregame routine. Each position group entered the field and went through its specific pregame drill, the sports performance staff led the team through its coordinated routine and the team ran onto the field to their specific areas on the home sideline with offense on one end and defense the other.
"The purpose of today is to make sure guys understand how we get ready for game and how we go out to the field," Hammock said. "Then we put them through a lot of situational work that may occur in the game - substitutions, special teams, all those things that happen where you want to make sure you've got the right personnel on the field. That includes coaches on the sideline, guys communicating, doing all those little intricate details of playing the game, and the guys handled it well."
Players took the field in individual groups – whether offense, defense or a particular special team unit – just like in a game with the "mock game" against air. The purpose was to get the players thinking in terms of game flow rather than the practices they've gone through for the past three weeks.
"They just have to understand that it's not going to be so sequential, like a normal practice," Hammock said. "We try to get them into different flows and different rhythms of the game, so nothing is new come September 1. When the offense is out there, the punt team has to be ready, when the defense is out there, the punt block team has to be ready. We have a lot of guys that have been here and played, which helps, but for the new guys, you want to get them acclimated to how we do things, where are they supposed to be and how they are supposed to react."
With camp complete and the season opener versus Eastern Illinois still 11 days away, the Huskies will take the next two days off to focus on classes, which start Monday, and rest.
"We're going to give them a couple days to get focused on school and get adjusted to being a student again and going to class," Hammock said. "We want to give them a couple of days to get their bodies back. I'm excited about these guys. I think this is a fun group to be around. My staff has done a great job bringing in the type of kids that work the right way on and off the field. We've gotten better as a program. We've gotten better as coaches, and we want to continue to try to improve."
To see a preview of every position from the preseason, as well as videos from the Chicago and DeKalb media days, go to the 2022 Camp Central page. The Huskies take on Eastern Illinois on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Huskie Stadium with kickoff at 7 p.m. (CT). The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Purchase NIU Football tickets now online at NIUHuskies.com or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) during regular business hours. Ticket options include season tickets to see all six Huskie home games, Mini-Plans featuring either the All-Saturday ($90) or All-Weekday ($78) package, and single game tickets, priced from $18-$40 depending on the game. Season tickets provide the best value with prices as low as $14.67 per ticket with the Huskie Family 4 Pack (do not have to be related), $97 for East Side general admission seating or $144 for West Side reserved seats. Premium area tickets are also available on both a season and per game basis. For more information and to see all the options and prices, click here
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