Jerry Ippoliti led the Huskie football team to its first winning 1-A record in 1972 with a 7-4 record.

Despite being a coach at NIU, Ippoliti set his legacy as a Huskie as the Mid-American Conference commissioner.

Ippoliti led the expansion of the conference by integrating NIU, Buffalo and Marshall into the conference. He is responsible for the current MAC setup with two divisions, modeled after the SEC and Big 12.

Ippoliti also set up the MAC title game on ESPN and the Motor City Bowl tie-in for MAC teams in 1997. He served as MAC commissioner from 1994 to 1999.