What does NIU’s victory over Notre Dame mean for NIU’s football program?

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — Now that Northern Illinois University’s football team has upset #5 Notre Dame, what does that mean for the NIU football program going forward.

For starters it means lots of extra media attention. It also means a national ranking. The Huskies are 25th in the AP Poll this week although they’re still unranked in the Coaches’ Poll. Long term though it could mean much more for the football program.

In an era where financial support is more critical than ever with NIL money going to athletes and more money likely going to them through a lawsuit agreement on revenue-sharing (House vs. NCAA agreement), and in an era coaches and recruiters are constantly vying for players through the transfer portal, a win like this can go a long way toward meeting those needs.

This is what NIU head football coach Thomas Hammock said Saturday during his postgame news conference.

“I hope this one bring support, you know, financial support. You know, it’s a new era of college football. NIL and all these different things right, and so we want to continue to build the program. My whole vision for this program was to play so well, we can increase student attendance, increase exposure. That was all because this is home for me.”

NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier told me personally following the game Saturday that this type of win can be a game-changer not only for a football program, but for a university.

“This is going to help us in the new era of college athletics, we’ve talked about that. Name, Image and likeness, we’ve talked about the transfer portal. If you want to win academically and athletically, you come to NIU and we’ll put you on the stage. We’ll win championships, and you too will be able to better yourself through sports moving foward. Yea, this gives us a little more juice to our brand.”

The attention garnered from this win could boost enrollment at NIU. Everyone loves being part of a winner right?

Yea, there’s a lot more than could come from NIU’s victory over Notre Dame than simply a ‘W’ on the Huskies’ won-loss record.

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