Huskies football coach Joe Novak said he would consider leaving NIU; he’s just waiting for the phone call.

“If the Cleveland Browns called me up and offered $5 million a year, I’d sure think about it,” Novak said.

The truth is, Novak’s contract is up at the end of next season. The 58-year-old coach has turned around a losing program and put it on the national map in his eight seasons in DeKalb.

Also, NIU’s No. 16 ranking is the highest in school history.

But don’t think the coach is going to ride off into the sunset just yet.

“I want to coach as long as I feel good,” Novak said. “Right now, I feel good. I don’t have any set time when I’ll stop.”

With the current state of college football – in which coaches change jobs more frequently than socks – anything can happen, but Novak seems happy with the Huskies.

“I’m not looking to leave,” he said. “But you never say never. I would be perfectly happy to end my career here.”

Former MAC coaches Randy Walker, now at Northwestern, and Urban Meyer, now with Utah, have made moves to bigger schools after successful careers in the MAC.

“I am forever grateful to [former NIU President] John LaTourette and [Athletic Director] Cary [Groth],” Novak said. “Even if I’d failed, at least I had a chance.”

Novak interviewed for NIU in 1984 and interviewed twice for his alma mater, Miami-Ohio, before getting the job at NIU in 1996.

The former defensive coordinator signed with NIU 22 years after he signed to lead Miami’s defense.

“Sure, I would have gotten a head coaching job earlier,” Novak said. “I was happy as an assistant, but any good coach wants to be a head coach.”

Novak said he feels fortunate to still be a Huskie. After three wins in three seasons, Novak’s job could have been considered anything but safe. But Groth stuck with the Ohio native, and his brand of ball has paid off.

“They realized it was going to take some time,” Novak said. “We had to tear it down to build it back up.”

Novak has turned things around in DeKalb, but he isn’t satisfied. NIU has yet to win an outright championship under Novak.

“I’m proud of what we’re accomplishing here,” Novak said. “I still want to see that championship. I still want to see that new facility. Then I feel we’ve done a good job.”

For his efforts in bringing NIU a second consecutive West Division co-championship last year, Novak was named the 2002 MAC Coach of the Year.