Coaches often talk about five year plans for building a winning athletic program. In his fifth year, NIU football coach Jerry Pettibone has successfully executed his five-year plan and, in the process, has brought the Huskies to new heights.

“I expected what happened to us this year, but I wouldn’t have been able to predict that five years ago,” said Pettibone. “Five years ago we were going day by day, week by week and season by season. I did tell my team at the beginning of this year that this was the first football team that I could talk to about being the best football team that NIU has ever had. I felt confident that I could talk to them about being good enough to go to a bowl game and having a great season.

“I feel good about all the things that are happening. It feels good to sit back and see all the groundwork that was laid down five years ago, the hard work with the players and establishing of discipline, the emphasis on academics, following the rules and how all that is paying off for us now.”

Pettibone inherited a 4-6-1 team in 1985 after serving as assistant head coach at Texas A&M under Jackie Sherrill. Pettibone previously served as recruiting coordinator at Nebraska, Oklahoma and SMU, and has served in various capacities for a veritable who’s who of college football coaches, including Chuck Fairbanks, Hayden Fry, Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne.

In a reflection of the success of this year’s 8-2 squad, Pettibone has gained some national attention for his coaching ability. The Sporting News recently named him as the eighth ranked candidate for Coach of the Year honors.

“It’s a great honor,” Pettibone said. “It was a great feeling for me personally but I also feel it’s a positive indication of the developement of our program, the kind of coaches we have and the job that they’ve done and the players we have, as well as they have played. It makes me feel good for all those reasons and also that I’m being considered for that honor.”

A victory in the season-ending game against Cincinnati would give Pettibone a .500 record at NIU. Going into Saturday’s contest, Pettibone’s career mark stands at 26-27-1.

“That (reaching .500) makes me feel good too. I’m looking forward to it because that’s a benchmark of a successful program, that you win more than you lose and this will be the beginning of that point for me. It makes you feel good that the philosophy that I began with five years ago has proven to be a successful philosophy.”

The Oklahoma graduate and former Army captain feels there are still some unaccomplished goals left for his next five years.

“I’ve said for two years that one of the dreams that I would like to see happen at NIU is to bring a team under the north goal post and look up and see the stadium packed. That hasn’t happened yet. We’ve not been invited to a bowl game yet either, but we’re involved in that right now and there is still a possibility that it could work out. That’s another goal of our program, to be a good enough team so that people will be excited enough about NIU to invite us to their bowl game.”

In looking to his future at NIU, Pettibone reflects on the past.

“What I think about more than anything is all the time and effort that’s involved in our program and the kind of young men that we have on the team here. There’s not a head coach in the country that has finer individuals and student-athletes on the team than I do. A big part of coaching is the young men you work with and how you enjoy the interaction with them, how you see them grow up and mature and reach their goals and expectations. That’s what coaching is about.”