Football’s Rod Carey will not be on the sidelines coaching this weekend.

The coaching staff will be on the road watching high school football games during the Huskies’ bye week this weekend. NIU returns to action against the Kent State Golden Flashes 4 p.m. Oct. 4 at Huskie Stadium.

Coaches

NCAA rules allow coaches to get on the road and recruit during their team’s bye week. Carey said some coaches will head out today and others, including himself, will head out Friday.

“I love Friday night football,” Carey said after Tuesday’s practice. “I mean, I think that’s about as special as it gets, you know, so I love that. Even the guys that we’re not recruiting, I love seeing those guys out there. That may be the last time they ever play football again, and they’re seniors, and you get some real gems in there. I love watching that.”

During the evaluation period, coaches can watch games and talk with high school coaches; however, they can’t have contact with a prospective student-athlete or the student-athlete’s family.

Carey said he and his staff will check out players who have already committed to the program as well as potential commits the staff is targeting.

Carey said the staff will mainly stay in Illinois to recruit. Brett Diersen, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, said he’ll be out in Chicago at a couple games looking for recruits.

“Right here. We’re going to be right here,” Carey said. “Some guys are going to be out of [the] area a little bit, but our focus is our main recruiting area, which is right here.”

Players

As for the players, redshirt freshman defensive tackle William Lee said he’s hoping to “rest and relax.”

I’ll “get mentally prepared for the next game, watch film and, you know, work on some things outside of practice to get better and get started for the MAC … games and stuff,” Lee said.

William also said he’ll take in some college football games Saturday.

“I haven’t been keeping up with the college football games, but whatever’s on I’ll probably watch it just to check it out,” Lee said.

As for the team’s practice plans throughout this off week, senior wide receiver Da’Ron Brown said the emphasis has been on themselves.

“We’re just focusing on us, you know, making sure we get our mistakes cleaned up, making sure we can run our plays and our defenses smoothly without any problems at all,” Brown said. “Just taking care of the bodies and the mind, getting back in the framework of working hard and making sure everything is clean. You can’t play a good ballgame with mistakes; that’s pretty much what we’re eliminating right now.”