Once you’ve accomplished everything imaginable, what else can you possibly do?

Faced with this dilemma, Charlie Sadler moved to DeKalb. Not to corn-gaze: rather, to become the head coach of the NIU football team.

Sadler, an assistant coach of 13 years, admits seven major bowl appearances, five Big Eight titles and one National Championship—a pretty lengthy resume for an assistant.

“I’ve done all there was to do realistically as an assistant coach,” Sadler said. “I coached on a National Championship team; I coached, individually, an All-America/Lombardi award winner (Tony Casillas, former nose tackle at Oklahoma, who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons); I’ve done all the things in regards to recruiting that assistant coaches can do; and I was defensive coordinator, which is just a step away from being a head coach.”

At 41 years old, Sadler spent two seasons at Oklahoma (1989-90) as Defensive Coordinator and five seasons as defensive line coach. Prior to those duties, Sadler tutored the outside linebackers at Missouri in 1983, while spending the previous four years at Iowa State as defensive ends and defensive line coach.

With the help of former NIU boss, Jerry Pettibone, who departed for Oregon State, and long-time friend NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell, Sadler took the step to become the Huskies’ 18th head coach.

Sadler, husband of 21 years and father of a six-year-old daughter, welcomed the idea of being at the helm of the Huskie family. As a matter of fact, the vacancy at NIU was the first head coaching position that Sadler has ever sought. Among other reasons, Sadler sees longevity as a bright spot.

“Obviously, I had a good job,” Sadler said. “Northern was the first head-coaching job that I’ve ever applied for.

“The reason is that it’s nice to be a head football coach, but if you go somewhere where you’ll only be the head football coach for three years, then you’re fired because you didn’t win enough games—that’s not a good way to start out your coaching career. So, on the surface, what that means is that Northern is a school that coaches across the country have grown to know and respect.”

Although Sadler has only met a handful of players on the team, he is impressed by their conduct and first-class approach. All of the coaches met with the team Monday to discuss upcoming events and expectations.

The biggest item on the agenda was spring practices. Sadler feels that the spring drills will prove to be crucial as to determining which players will take the field in 1991.

“Spring football will be a very essential time to us,” Sadler said, “because of the learning of new schemes, and you could have a few position changes which occurs everywhere during spring ball.”

Another aspect of NIU football which will be different for Sadler is the climate. Yet Sadler balked at the idea of cold weather interrupting his progress. But the coach did check out DeKalb’s position on the map.

“I coached four years at Iowa State,” Sadler chuckled, “and I was just curious as to how far north we were. If I’m not mistaken, on the map I looked on the longitude lines and we’re probably about eight miles south of Ames (Iowa), so weather doesn’t concern me one bit.”

As for goals, Sadler really doesn’t keep any timetables. The coach is dedicated to a football program that is an integral part of the university, and believes the football team should represent the university in a first-class manner.

Specifically, Sadler wants to win. Secondly, he wants to run a first-class program that is the focal point of the university. As for the recruiting part of it all, Sadler is devoted to luring players that are not only committed to football, but to the classroom also.

“Not only do I want to recruit players that truly want to come here to receive a degree,” Sadler said, “but, once they are here, I want to make sure that I do everything in my power to help see that those fellas receive that degree and are able to go on to the next stage of their lives with something even more productive.”

Immediate goals for Sadler are of a simpler nature.

Sadler is currently in the process of moving, and has yet to decorate his new head football coach’s office.