Tight ends, defensive line focus of NIU’s signing class

DeKALB – Three tight ends are set to graduate for NIU. So are six defensive linemen.

So it’s probably not much of a surprise that coach Thomas Hammock on Wednesday announced six defensive linemen and three tight ends as part of his latest recruiting class.

“We’re losing a lot of tight ends in our program, a lot of guys who played a lot of football in our program,” Hammock said. “It was extremely important for us to replenish the tight end room. We are a tight end driven offense.”

Sycamore receiver Aidan Wyzard was not among the players announced by Hammock on Wednesday. He’s expected to be introduced later along with other high school prospects. Hammock said there were more high schoolers still to be announced.

Wyzard was second on the Spartans with 26 catches for 665 yards and a team-best nine touchdown catches from quarterback Burke Gautcher - who signed with Iowa and is expected to move to linebacker.

Wyzard was also explosive in the return game. Not even the main return option for the Spartans, he returned one of his five kicks for a touchdown and averaged 41.6 yards a return. He also returned seven punts for an average of 12.3 per return.

Wyzard is a standout track athlete with only two years of football experience. But this year he decided he was going to focus on football and committed to NIU in October.

“It really took a turn for me this season,” Wyzard said. “This is my second year ever playing football and I love it. I think about football all the time and NIU is willing to give me a chance and I’m very thankful for that and I’m looking forward to continuing my career at NIU.”

Gautcher spent three years putting up gaudy offensive numbers for the Spartans, first as a receiver two years ago then as a quarterback the past two seasons.

He’s been committed to Iowa since 2023 and is expected to move to linebacker. The social media post from the Hawkeyes mentioned the tradition of Sycamore linebackers going to Iowa, including Ben Niemann and Nick Niemann, both of whom played in the NFL.

Gautcher played safety for the Spartans, making 60 tackles, recovering a fumble, getting an interception and scoring a touchdown.

Gautcher had said how he appreciated being able to commit early to the Hawkeyes.

“Last summer I was pretty busy with camps and stuff, but committing in October it’s been really easy kind of chilling and relaxing knowing I’m already committed to a great place,” Gautcher said during the summer.

DeKalb linebacker Matthew Clayton also announced he’s heading to the College of DuPage. Drake announced Kaneland kicker Sam Bruno among its incoming class.

Among the tight end recruits for NIU is the 6-foot-9, 215-pound Caleb Haack, who played eight-man football for Iowa Valley in Marengo, Iowa.

Two of the three players who will be enrolling early in January are defensive linemen - the 6-2, 220 Jordan Bellamy from Armwood in St. Petersburg, Florida and Montrel Canion, a 6-2, 265 tackle from Western in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

There are also two transfers - Alvin Gulley Jr., a 6-0, 299-pound senior defensive tackle from Yale who went to Belleville West, and 6-1, 175-pound junior cornerback Keshawn Lyons from McKendree who went to Cahokia.

Hammock said there’s a lot of returning defensive linemen still, but most only have a year or two of eligibility left. Bringing in a large group now helps them develop.

“We still have quite a few guys coming back next year, so we feel like this is a bridge year for us,” Hammock said. “We can add a bunch of young kids and get them developed. We have a year they can learn under Skyler [Gill-Howard] and some other guys - Jalonnie [Williams], Roy Williams, Ivan Davis is coming back, Pierce Oppong is coming back. They have a year to learn under those guys before we need them to be ready to compete.”

NIU 2024 signing class