With Northern Illinois going into its first season in the Mountain West, NIU will be looking for a new head coach.
Thomas Hammock is stepping down as NIU’s head coach to take a job with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. The move was announced Wednesday.
Here’s more about Hammock and what NIU is doing moving forward:
What’s Northern Illinois Head Coach Thomas Hammock’s Salary?
Thomas Hammock made $628,087 in total pay in 2025, according to USA Today.
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What’s Northern Illinois Head Coach Thomas Hammock’s Record?
Thomas Hammock is 35-47 in the FBS as a head coach. That’s all from his time at NIU going back to 2019.
Hammock is 2-1 in bowl games.
How Old Is Northern Illinois Head Coach Thomas Hammock?
Thomas Hammock is 44 years old.
Northern Illinois Head Coach Thomas Hammock’s Background
Though some years weren’t easy, Northern Illinois did flourish at some points during Hammock’s tenure.
In 2021, NIU went 9-5 overall and won the MAC Championship. In 2024, the Huskies were 8-5 with an upset win over Notre Dame and a victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The majority of Hammock’s coaching career has been focused on running backs. That makes sense considering he was a two-time All-MAC running back for NIU from 1999-2002.
In fact, after spending the first two years of his career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin, he returned to NIU to coach running backs from 2005-06.
He also coached running backs at Minnesota (2007-10) and Wisconsin (2011-13). He was Minnesota’s co-offensive coordinator in 2010 and an assistant head coach at Wisconsin from 2012-13 as well.
Before becoming NIU’s head coach, he worked with running backs in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens. During his time there from 2014-18, the Ravens were in the top 11 in the league in rushing three times, including when they were second in the NFL with 152.6 rushing yards per game in Hammock’s last season there.
Who Is Northern Illinois’ New Head Coach?
NIU defensive coordinator Rob Harley will be the interim head coach.
Harley was NIU’s DC for one season last year. The Huskies were eighth in the MAC in total defense (357.3 yards per game allowed) and scoring defense (24.3 points per game allowed).
Previously, Harley spent four seasons as a defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Arkansas State. Before that, he spent six seasons as a linebackers coach at Pitt and was the Panthers’ recruiting coordinator during the final four of those years.
After playing safety at Ohio State, Harley started collegiate coaching in 2010 when he worked with defensive backs and linebackers and was an assistant special teams coordinator at Division II Ohio Dominican. He then went to Michigan State to be a graduate assistant from 2012-13. He coached linebackers at FIU in 2014.
