Northern Illinois University Football

Brayden Patton, a four-year letterwinner and two-time All Mid-American Conference offensive lineman for the Huskies from 2017-21, returned to his alma mater in January

Chris West joined the Huskies in February 2026 after serving as the Defensive Line coach at Elon during the 2025 season.  “We’re excited to welcome Chris West

Cory Connolly joined the NIU Football coaching staff as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2025 after 10 seasons at Ball State.  Connolly originally

DJ Bland, a Chicago native with eight years of coaching experience, joined the Northern Illinois University football coaching staff as cornerbacks coach on April

Joseph Hawkins, a Chicago native who spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons on the coaching staff at Bryant University and was most recently an offensive and special teams

Justin Robinson, who earned national recognition as the 2023 NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year, joined the NIU staff in January 2025 as defensive tackles coach.   Robinson

After spending the 2024 season as a graduate assistant coach for the Huskie defense, Kai Ross was elevated to an assistant coach position in January 2025 and will

Matt White was announced as the Offensive Line Coach for the NIU Huskies in March 2026. Prior to coming to DeKalb, White served as the Offensive Line Coach at Southern

Quinn Sanders, who directed a record-setting offense while leading the University of Charleston (West Virginia) to unprecedented success as head coach, was named

An Illinois native with experience as both a coordinator and position coach, Rob Harley joined the Northern Illinois University football coaching staff as defensive

Tony Petersen joined NIU in March 2026 and brings more than 30 years of coaching experience, including spending the last four seasons as the offensive coordinator

After two seasons on the NIU coaching staff as a graduate assistant coach, Ty Boles was elevated to a full-time role as Huskie running backs coach in 2025.   Boles