NIU football coach Joe Novak expects priorities from his players.

School first, football second and social life third.

“They do have a social life,” Novak said. “They do have time for that, it just can’t be the No. 1 priority.”

Coaches often check on players who are struggling academically, to make sure they are attending classes.

“Coach Novak always says school is more important,” said Quince Holman, who started his first game on Saturday at defensive end. “If you really have something on your back, like a thesis or something, they’ll give you some slack and maybe let you miss some meetings or something.”

That sort of situation doesn’t happen often, Novak said.

“These kids don’t take advantage of it,” Novak said. “I’m not going to say I like it when people miss meetings and practice, but I really feel that their priorities are school first.”

For Novak, priority is key.

“Some of our kids will bring books on the bus,” Novak said. “We’ve got a five-hour bus ride; what a great time to do some studying. It all depends on the priorities these kids have.”

Red-shirt freshman quarterback Andre Brown agreed that time management plays a crucial role in surviving as a collegiate student-athlete.

“We’re up at the break of dawn and we don’t get to sleep until everything is done,” Brown said. “As long as you set priorities, you’re fine.”

Brown said he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. and usually gets to bed about midnight.

It’s difficult to adapt to the tight schedule of a football player freshman year, Holman said.

“You have to manage your time well,” Holman said. “If you don’t, you’re going to be swamped. Freshman year was pretty bad. I didn’t know how to manage my time well. I was all over the place.”

Novak said he’s seen improvement out of Holman, as well as others.

“I know he’s better than when he got here,” said Novak, of Holman’s time management. “I’d say 99 percent of the kids are a lot better. Basically, if they didn’t get better, they wouldn’t be here.”

A lack of free time forces players to manage what little time they have.

“Having practice, study tables and football forces you to grow up quickly,” Brown said. “Having something to do throughout the day helps out, and it’ll help us in the real world.”

Studies show that athletes do better academically in the season than out of season because time is so tight that it forces them to manage their time, Novak said.

“In the off-season, when they get some free time, sometimes they get away from what they need to do,” he said.

For Brown, the costs of playing football are worth the rewards.

“It’s one of the sacrifices you have to make when you’re on one of the best football teams in the nation,” he said.