Jeremy Werner on Illini surge and national title hopes | Chicago Sports Tonight
 Illini Inquirer’s Jeremy Werner from 247 Sports joined Cassie on CST to chat about the Illini Men’s Basketball team who are riding high after a dominant win over Indiana on Sunday. Where do Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic rank amongst Illini freshman in program history? Werner also explains why he believes this is Brad Underwood’s most talented team and whether they are good enough to win a national title.
Northern Illinois will have a new head football coach when it plays its first season in the Mountain West Conference.
Thomas Hammock is reportedly leaving DeKalb for the NFL, according to multiple reports.
What we know:
According to ESPN, Hammock is leaving the Huskies for the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. He’s expected to become the highest-paid running backs coach in the league.
Hammock also reportedly interviewed for Seattle’s offensive coordinator opening, too.
Hammock will finish his NIU tenure with a 35-47 overall record, with his most iconic moment being a win over No. 5 Notre Dame in South Bend in the 2024 season.
Northern Illinois went 3-9 in its final season in the Mid-American Conference and Hammock’s final season at NIU.
The backstory:
This is a bit of a shock because Hammock is a former Northern Illinois running back and thoroughly displayed love for the NIU program.
Hammock was hired after Rod Carey departed for Temple, and will leave the program with two bowl wins and a MAC title in 2021.
He went viral before the 2025 football season for his rants about the modern state of college football, specifically the transfer portal and how Name, Image and Likeness deals dictates where players go,
“Everyone’s talking about everything else besides the most important thing of going to college. Because if you’re going to college to get a couple of dollars, you might as well go get a job,” Hammock said in August 2025. “This is too hard to go get a couple of dollars. Learn the lessons that you need to learn to be successful in life for the next 40 or 50 years of your life. I would do it again for free because of the things I learned. That’s why I’m standing here today, because of what I learned in college. Not because of how much someone gave me.”
Hammock’s success was a reason why NIU moved from the MAC to the Mountain West in football only.
On the day NIU officially joined the Mountain West, Hammock said it was one of the best day’s in the history of the program.
“As good as Sept. 7 was,” Hammock said on Jan. 7 2025, referencing NIU’s 16-14 win over No. 5 Notre Dame in 2024, “today is even better.”
Hammock won’t get to lead the future of his alma mater’s football program.Â
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