DEKALB — Northern Illinois has a controlled scrimmage scheduled for Saturday rather than an intrasquad spring game, but that doesn’t mean coach Jerry Kill doesn’t mean business this season.
“We have identified some personnel we needed to see get better,” Kill said of his team’s spring practices. “Overall, I think we are ahead of where we were. … I go back to South Florida (in International Bowl loss) and where we needed to go. We definitely haven’t regressed. Now it comes down to how hard they are going to work in the summer. They have to do a lot of things on their own to really get better.”
“Our main goal is to win the MAC championship, something that hasn’t been done here in a while,” said senior wide receiver Landon Cox from Thornton Fractional North High School. “That’s why we go out there with the tempo we do during practice. Coach Kill stresses tempo, tempo.”
NIU, which finished 7-6 last season, returns 24 lettermen on offense, 22 on defense and two specialists.
“I think we have a lot of depth at running back; I feel good about that,” Kill said. “There is no question Chadd Spann is our best tailback. But we kept him out of the spring (practices) because I wanted him to heal. That gave an opportunity for guys (such as Ricky Crider) to step up, and I mean they really stepped up. So (Spann) can’t just go through the summer coasting. He is going to have to work.
“Offensive line-wise, there are seven or eight guys who can play, plus we signed about seven guys.”
Quarterback Chandler Harnish was scheduled originally to undergo knee surgery, but is trying to work through the injury. Meanwhile DeMarcus Grady has taken most of the reps at quarterback this spring.
A key loss for the Huskies is kicker/punter Mike Salerno, who figures to receive an invitation to an NFL camp this summer.
“Probably my biggest concern is our kicker and holder,” Kill said. “That’s a wide-open situation.”
NIU will be tested early.
“We open up at Iowa State and we play four out of five on the road,” Kill said. “If we survive our schedule early, by the time we get to the MAC, we ought to be well-seasoned … if we can stay healthy. The bottom line is winning the MAC.”
