NIU football: Kane, Uremovich return to Huskies as new coordinators

DeKALB – In the first spring football practice of the year last week, cornerback Cassius Grady intercepted a pass and returned it down the left sideline for a touchdown while the rest of the defense ran with him.

Running right along side the players was Northern Illinois' new defensive coordinator Kevin Kane with a wide smile.

After spending a year with his alma mater Kansas, Kane returned to the Huskies with the new position and is just one of several new coaches for Northern Illinois this spring season.

"It's different, there's new faces and everything, but at the same time, I know a lot of them so it's been refreshing being back in someplace I know," said Kane, 32. "It's a big reason why I came back – I knew a lot of the kids and I knew the system."

Joining Kane as a former Northern Illinois coach that returned as a coordinator is Mike Uremovich, who takes over the offense after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant at North Carolina State, under former Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doern. While Uremovich said some things are the same, one positive of being back is the Chessick Center – the Huskies' indoor practice facility – wasn't quite done when he left for North Carolina State.

"Obviously that's a beautiful facility and helps us prepare," said Uremovich, 39. "It's great being back, obviously there's a lot of familiar faces. It's been an easy transition."

The younger Kane and Uremovich will be replacing former defensive coordinator Jay Niemann and offensive coordinator Bob Cole. Niemann departed Northern Illinois to take the defensive coordinator position at Rutgers and Cole's contract was not renewed.

Both Kane and Uremovich said that, while there may be some new wrinkles, the overall scheme won't look much different from year's past. For Northern Illinois head coach Rod Carey, having coordinators who are already familiar with the system has helped with the transition.

“Usually when you think of two new coordinators, you think of a real hard transition," Carey said. "It's maybe uncomfortable at times for coaches and players. We got none of that this year, probably with the familiarity. Who's running the system has changed and that will cause change in there. Yeah, there's more learning than there has been, but certainly not from an overall system standpoint.”

Kane comes to Northern Illinois after a winless season with Kansas, which went 0-12. What did Kane learn from the tough season?

"You got to have good players," he said. "Nothing against Kansas, but we didn't have enough. We have to have a lot of good players and you can draw up the best Xs and Os in the world, but if your guys don't know how to operate them – you have to adapt to what your players can do."

Carey wasn't the only one to be happy that Kane returned to DeKalb. During his stint as linebackers coach for the Huskies from 2012-14, many of the players he recruited are still on the roster and they praised having him back – including senior linebacker Jamaal Payton and senior outside linebacker Sean Folliard.

“I was ecstatic," Folliard said. "I loved Coach Niemann and (former linebacker) Coach (Ross) Watson, who are gone, but Coach Kane brought me here and he was the one who molded me as a young linebacker. I couldn't be happier.”

The coordinators weren't the only coaches that created a massive shake-up for the Huskies. Watson left for Toledo after one year, cornerbacks coach Kelvin Sigler left to take the same position at South Alabama and wide receivers coach Thad Ward recently took a position under new Illinois coach Lovie Smith.

While Ward was a strong recruiter for the Huskies in Florida, Carey said that Kelton Copeland, who moves from coaching the running backs to wide receivers and is a Miami native, will keep Northern Illinois' foot in the door in the Sunshine State.

“Not just recruiting, Coach Ward is a very good football coach," Carey said. "We certainly were sad to see him go but happy for him at the same time.

“(The) timing was awful,” Carey laughed, since Ward took the position on March 17 – five days before spring football. “But there's nothing we can do about that. “I don't want to say this and diminish Coach Ward, but I don't think we'll skip a beat down there in our recruiting efforts. We got good relationships, good brand down there.”

According to ProFootballScoop, the Huskies are also in line to hire former University of Wisconsin and Tennessee Titans coach Bob Bostad, although Carey was mum on who the final hire will be last week.

“I could tell you my plan, and then my plan could change and so I'd have to tell you again and again and again," Carey said. "There's no reason to say anything until everything is set and ink is on paper.”