For the first time in over three years, NIU will see a different quarterback under center.

With Chris Finlen’s eligibility expired, the NIU football team will have a three-man race for the starting quarterback position heading into next season and there is no clear-cut favorite going into the spring.

Josh Haldi, Kyle Padia and Joe Stamm will duel it out in spring practices to see who will take over the starting job. The only player out of the three to receive playing time this season was Haldi, who played in three games.

Coach Joe Novak knows it is going to be tough to replace a quarterback who has been with the program for five years, but knows it is time to move on.

“Obviously you can never replace that experience,” Novak said. “The guys coming in don’t have that. With the new quarterback coming in, he will be surrounded by a great team. He won’t have to come in and be Superman.

“I know this, if they buckle under this type of competition, they’ll buckle under game-time competition. They have to feel the pressure and they will need to feel that pressure right now — they need to know going into the spring that they are under the gun. It is going to be interesting with the three. They all bring different things to the table. But they are going to have to make progress.”

Josh Haldi

Novak wishes he could have put in Haldi more this season.

Unfortunately for Novak, the Huskies were in too many close games. Haldi did get playing time this season, playing three games, and is the only quarterback besides Finlen to get in this season.

In those three games, Haldi threw seven passes and completed four of them, good for 60 yards. He had a 129.14 passing efficiency rating.

“It was good to get some experience and see what goes on,” the redshirt sophomore said. “The times I was in there, it was good to go in there and get my feet wet.”

But Haldi was not happy with the way he played toward the end of the season.

The Madison, Ohio, native was supplanted by Kyle Padia as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart, and Haldi went down to No. 3.

“I really didn’t play well,” he said. “Kyle played better than me. That is all it comes down to. All I could do is just go out there and try to fix it.”

Haldi looks forward to the next semester to get the chance to improve on his game. He says he needs to improve on being consistent at throwing the ball, one of the reasons Padia took over the backup position to Finlen.

“Nothing is set in stone,” Haldi said. “Coach made it clear that it is wide open. You have to go out and give it your best. You can’t ask to be in a better position. There will be a lot of bodies and just one job.”

Kyle Padia

All Kyle Padia wanted was a chance to play at the Division I level.

With Finlen graduating, Padia will get that chance to prove he can play at the Division I level come August.

But things did not come easy for the junior college transfer from West Valley Community College. Padia was coming off an 8-2 record for the Graffiti Bowl entry team, and was named to the Honorable Mention All-Coast Conference Team.

Padia announced he was transferring to NIU in February, but had to stay at West Valley because if he transferred to NIU in January, he would not be eligible to play in the fall.

Because he had to stay an extra semester at West Valley, Padia said it caused him to miss valuable time learning NIU’s offense.

“It was a tough time adjusting,” Padia said. “Playing at the Division I level is tough, especially here.”

But in the short time Padia, who redshirted this season because he didn’t receive any snaps, has been here, he has been able to grasp the offense quickly. The last game of the season against Wake Forest, Padia was named the back-up to Finlen, and Haldi was dropped to No. 3 on the depth chart.

“We got to the point in the end of our season that Kyle was throwing the ball better than Josh,” Novak said. “We thought when we had the chance to win the MAC, that we would have a better chance of winning with Padia.”

While he knows he has the chance to start next season, Padia is not going to sell Haldi and Joe Stamm short.

“They are great quarterbacks,” Padia said. “We are just going to have to fight it out in the spring. I am really going to like this competition in the spring.”

Joe Stamm

The former Metamora quarterback could be the dark horse of this three-way quarterback race.

Joe Stamm is coming off shoulder surgery in February and has yet to be cleared to throw the football. He tried throwing the ball during the season, but suffered a setback. The doctor told him to wait until his shoulder is fully healed to throw the ball again.

“He’s got a lot of ability,” Novak said. “He’s a good athlete. He’s the best athlete out of the three. He is a little of an unknown.”

But being an unknown does not bother Stamm.

“It is good to use this year to get a feel of what the team is like,” Stamm said. “I am at the point where I know what my role is and what I have to do.”

Even if he could play this season, the freshman quarterback might not have received any playing time. The only time Stamm practiced, he was asked to fill the receiver role for the scout team. Stamm came from an option-oriented offense from Metamora.

The Metamora, Ill., native hopes him playing receiver hopefully earned the respect of his teammates, who now know he can play during time of injury.

Stamm knows that with sitting out for a year means gaining valuable knowledge of playing at the Division I level. With the setback from his shoulder surgery, Stamm used this time to get to know his teammates and build relationships with them.

The freshman looks to resume throwing in January.

“It is not about worrying about what everyone else does,” he said. “It is worrying about myself. I know that I am going to have to work my tail off during the offseason.”

Recruiting

The Huskies go into this recruiting season with 16 to 17 scholarships, maybe more with medical injuries and academic ineligiblities.

Novak hopes to bring in at least two quarterbacks, maybe three. The sixth-year coach hopes to snag a junior college quarterback who will come right in to compete for the starting job. But he also hopes to get another two freshmen quarterbacks who will come in and possibly redshirt for their first year at NIU.

Two freshmen quarterbacks who are publically known to be interested in NIU are Phil Horvath from Naperville Central and Tim Brasic from Riverside-Brookfield.

Brasic, who holds numerous Illinois High School Association records, is coming off one of the most prolific seasons a high school quarterback can have. Brasic threw for over 4,600 yards for Riverside-Brookfield, including an IHSA record 571 yards against Class 5A champions Joliet Catholic. For his brief two-year high school career, Brasic has thrown for over 7,900 yards and 93 touchdowns, including an IHSA record 58 touchdowns this season.

Brasic is also entertaining an offer from Bowling Green.

Horvath led Naperville Central to the Class 8A championship game, where they lost 34-31 to Downers Grove South. Horvath threw for 310 yards in the championship game. He took over the starting job this year when Owen Daniels graduated and headed to Wisconsin. For the season, Horvath threw for 2,104 yards, 24 touchdowns and threw only five interceptions.

“We would really like to get a (junior college player) because I want another guy to come in to compete come spring,” Novak said. “If we get a high school quarterback to compete that would be great, but ideally we would want them to redshirt. It is going to be an interesting time.”

Novak is not allowed to comment on any of these players because of NCAA rules.