Welcome, oh welcome.

Via Michigan by way of Wisconsin.

After a couple of stints helping the Big 10, the newest addition of NIU’s athletic staff makes his home in the Mid-Continent Conference.

He is 26-year-old Tim Madden. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. And after settling in DeKalb, a town with which he is somewhat familiar (his wife graduated from NIU), the Lewistown, Ill. native looks forward to continuing what former coach Chuck Merzbacher kept successful; the NIU men’s tennis team.

“(Merzbacher) has gotten the program moving along very well here,” Madden explained, “and I hope that I can just continue that.”

“This is my first head coaching job,” Madden continued, “and it’s a program that I think really can grow. I can grow with the program and I think I can take this program along to reach a couple of our goals.”

“We definitely want to win the Mid-Continent Conference Championship again. We want to make sure we’re looking toward being a top 10 midwest Regional program. Hopefully, down the road, we can be a dominant force in the Midwest.”

With one year aiding Pat Klingelhoets, his coach at the University of Wisconsin, and three and a half years as an assistant coach for Brian Eisner at the University of Michigan where Tim received his masters degree in sports management and communication, Madden comes in with high credentials and high praise from Notre Dame coach Robert Bayliss.

“I have watched his growth as he has emerged as perhaps the top assistant coach in the United States,” claimed Bayliss.

Undoubtedly, what Madden brings into NIU defines precocity. His early experience at major programs nullified any suspicions that he should begin at the bottom.

“The major advantage of coming from my background …,” proposed Madden, “I’m trying to get (the players) out and playing some of these really tough teams.”

“I know what’s out there …,” added Madden. “I’ve been doing it as a player and a coach now and I just have to convince these players here at Northern Illinois that they can compete with them . You have to build confidence that way; it’s just a matter of experiencing going through it. A lot of the players here really haven’t had the national level experience in the junior tennis. We have to get that now.”

Madden’s talent surpasses the grandest of all welcoming parties; so let the season begin.