After the biggest win of his coaching career, 16-14 at Notre Dame, Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock couldn’t help but think about what it took to get to this moment.
All the hours, all the effort, the heartfelt one-on-one conversations to hold together a veteran-laden Northern Illinois team. In a world in which Group of Five programs are often prey to Power Four vultures, Hammock and his coaching staff fought back to keep the roster intact. There was no way to compete with the money, so he focused on the sentimental, telling them he had and would continue to invest everything he had in making them the best versions of themselves.
As his mind raced back to all those conversations of players coming into his office and telling him bigger programs were interested, Hammock got emotional. The tears flowed in an inedible moment highlighting what makes college football so special, as the choked-up Northern Illinois coach attempted to explain what a win over No. 5 Notre Dame meant in a postgame NBC interview that quickly went viral.
As it turns out, it meant everything for Hammock and his ascendant program. It validated that the things he and his coaching staff valued — authentic relationships, strong discipline, work ethic and a family culture — paid off on a national stage.
“A lot of teams came after our guys in December, and guys believed in the program, guys believed in the brotherhood, and they wanted to stay for one another,” Hammock told CBS Sports by telephone on Sunday. “That’s what makes it special … We lost two but two didn’t become 12. That’s why that emotion after the game came over me. These guys stayed, and they believed. They were committed to one another and that’s what, as a coach, you are always looking to build.”
(Hammock was speaking metaphorically; Northern Illinois actually lost 18 players in the transfer portal, per 247Sports, but only two transferred up to Power…
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