National Signing Day: Football refuels ‘lifeblood,’ signs 30

By Frank Gogola

Strength and speed: that’s what football head coach Rod Carey felt the Huskies needed and got with their 30-man recruiting class, which he announced Wednesday at the Convocation Center.

Carey said the coaching staff concentrated on bringing in running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs and offensive linemen. Those four position groups account for 19 of the 30 recruits signed.

“As a whole class it’s kind of split down the middle for me because I think the easy answer is speed,” Carey said. “But when you look at it, you look at the big bodies that we have coming in, it’s strength, too. And you have to have the upfront element in every team that you build.”

The class is comprised of 16 offensive players and 14 defensive players. Carey said he would have liked to seen those numbers flipped because the Huskies have been thin on defense lately.

“You got to be as close to center as you can, and our numbers quite frankly on defense we needed to get up,” Carey said. “And I think we’re getting really, really close to that split.”

In terms of recruiting for positions of need versus trying to bring in the best players available, Carey said it’s a little of each, but the key is going after those players who want to be Huskies.

“You have to fill — with [the] 85 scholarship limit — you have to fill the needs,” Carey said. “But — and this is a big but — you have to take the best players available to you. And, the biggest but — so you got two buts in there — the No. 1 thing that you have to have, and this [former head coach] Joe Novak instilled in me: When I first got the job I called him and he said recruit players that want to be at NIU.”

Carey said he doesn’t distinguish between scholarship and non-scholarship — or walk-on — athletes “because these are all recruited players for us and we feel great about all these recruited players.”

None of the recruits have enrolled early for the spring semester at NIU. Carey said it’s the first time in his three recruiting classes no incoming players will be on campus for spring camp.

“It takes a special guy to do that because you’re kind of forgoing that last part of your senior year, which sometimes can be touchy,” Carey said.

Carey declined to speak to how many true freshmen he expects to play and how many he expects to redshirt. He said he’d have a better idea in fall camp, but said there’s always some true freshmen that play; some years there are just more than others.

“… I’m going to know a lot more about this class in three years than I do right now,” Carey said. “And I think that’s the true litmus test of a recruiting class.

“We feel great about them. We have poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this class, and we feel great about where we’re at right now. But, I think that’s the true test. And I think as you go forward with recruiting, recruiting is the lifeblood. It’s not a stop. It’s not an event. It’s not a milestone. It’s the lifeblood of your football program. It flows through it. And what it’s supposed to do is get results. And the way that we have recruited has certainly produced results… .”