Behind every head coach, there’s always a continuously working staff that isn’t too far behind.

For NIU skipper Ed Mathey, his assistant coaches provide him input that’s vital in his team’s preparation.

“It’s a very open forum,” Mathey said. “I always need to have all the thoughts out there [from my coaches].”

Mathey’s right-hand man has been Huskie assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Steve Joslyn. Since Mathey’s first year with NIU in 2003, Joslyn has sat on his bench every season.

But their camaraderie didn’t start with coaching the Huskies.

“We go way back,” Joslyn said. “We played college baseball and summer leagues together. So its been almost 20-some years.”

From their time in the dugout to countless road trips together, Joslyn joked that he’s seen Mathey more than the head coach sees his significant other.

“I see him more than his wife sometimes,” Joslyn said.

With two decades of time shared between the two, Joslyn does not hesitate to give his opinion to Mathey, especially when they don’t see eye to eye.

With Mathey’s managerial plate stacked at times with endless tasks, Joslyn provides a unique insight into what the NIU ballplayers need. It is not as if Mathey takes a back seat to his players’ wants; it’s something that Joslyn likes to keep him up-to-date at all times with.

“I think it just gives him the perspective on what the student-athlete needs, because he’s got to deal with the whole piece of the pie [being the manager],” Joslyn said.

The bond between Mathey and Joslyn can be traced back to their playing days at North Central College, where another member of the coaching staff, Ray Napientek, played his collegiate ball as well. Mathey coached Napientek while he was a player at their alma mater from 1996-1999.

What falls in line for Napientek is scouting the Huskies’ opponents and gathering reports about hitter and pitcher tendencies.

“It’s just building information throughout the years,” Napientek said. “And trying to talk to a few other schools we have good relationships with, that have played other teams and try and get reports of them.”

In his fourth year as an assistant coach, Jason Smith has as settled in as NIU’s hitting instructor and camp director. The Aurora University graduate arrived “a few weeks into the season” in the 2009 campaign.

Yet it didn’t take long for him to get acquainted with the trio of Mathey, Joslyn and Napientek.

“I was thrown into the spring trip [that year],” Smith said. “Coach Mathey and Coach Joslyn did a great job of helping me transition with game day stuff, how practices worked and getting to know the guys very well.”

Mathey’s crew has run like a smooth, well-oiled machine this season, with the Huskies currently sitting atop the standing of the MAC West with a record of 20-18 overall, 10-5 in conference play. It’s just a matter of them being on the same page while running their respective positions properly.

“We know each other pretty well,” Napientek said. “We know day-in and day-out what our responsibilities are.”