NIU coach Thomas Hammock: 'Football is the greatest meritocracy,' no starters set

DeKALB – Thomas Hammock said he believes in the meritocracy of football.

In a news conference Wednesday, the NIU head football coach said he doesn’t care who started last year and who’s projected where on the depth chart. When spring practice kicks off Saturday, there are no starters.

“Nothing is set in stone,” Hammock said. “Everyone’s job is open. You’re going to earn your keep. We talked to the players about meritocracy. And football is the greatest meritocracy there is. We’re certainly going to abide by that.”

Hammock said the fact that he was hired just more than two months ago plays a role in starting over from square one.

“It’s hard to walk into a room full of guys you’ve never worked with and tell them you’re not going to start from scratch,” Hammock said. “I think that’s important for them to understand. It’s also important from a competition standpoint for everyone to understand the best players are the ones who play the best. Starting Saturday, they have the opportunity to do that.”

Mykelti Williams, set to begin his senior campaign at safety next year after 69 tackles and an interception last year, said the team will benefit from the attitude.

“I think competing for your job every day is the best way to go about things around here,” Williams said. “Honesty, it will make our team better. As far as the aspect of growing, we’re growing in the right direction. It’s exciting.”

The Huskies went 8-6 last year and won the Mid-American Conference championship under coach Rod Carey, who left for Temple in January.

Hammock, who was running backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens and a former running back for the Huskies, was named as his replacement.

And now the Huskies are days away from getting on the field for the first time under Hammock.

“We don’t want to have any preconceived notions,” Hammock said. “We’ve had the last six or seven weeks of winter conditioning and lifting, but on the football field we want to see how far we can push these guys to be as good as they can be.”

Hammock said he liked the experience of defensive players returning but said there is room to develop in the secondary.

He added that there's plenty of offensive groups he wants to see grow from last year.
"Offensive line is one area we want to develop," Hammock said. "[The] wide receiver group is another we want to develop, and I think quarterback is a position that can be developed based on the tape that I've seen. I think our players have taken heed to that and put in the work to get better."

Hammock mentioned Brayden Patton, Nolan Potter and Isaac Hawn as offensive lineman who will have expanded roles this year and Matt Lorbeck, a defensive end, as someone else he expects to develop.

He also thinks 6-foot-5 sophomore receiver Dennis Robinson can step up.

“Dennis Robinson is a guy we’re trying to make sure we can maximize his talent given his size,” Hammock said. “Up front, [redshirt freshman Marques] Cox is a guy that can develop; obviously, being a young guy, we want to see how he can develop in our program.”

But Hammock stressed that everything will be earned at every position, including quarterback – where Marcus Childers will be back for his junior year after helping the Huskies win the MAC title last year and claiming the MAC Freshman of the Year award two seasons ago.

"We're trying to develop a No. 1 [quarterback] to be honest with you," Hammock said. "I'm not going to back off my statement that we're going to compete. I watched the offense; the offense needs to play better. That's my expectation. And the quarterback position is the one that leads the offense. They're all competing for jobs, and I'm serious when I say that."
Lorbeck said that has been communicated very clearly with the team.

“It’s an open competition, and he made that very clear in a team meeting,” Lorbeck said. “He told us all it’s a competition and it’s never going to end throughout spring ball, fall camp and into the season. He’s really big on competition, and everybody is going to get the opportunity to play.”