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DeKALB – Northern Illinois football coach Thomas Hammock was blunt when talking about what joining the Mountain West means to him.
“As good as September 7th was, today is even better because there’s a path forward,” the sixth-year head coach said at a news conference Tuesday, comparing the move to the Huskies' historic upset of Notre Dame.
Hammock, NIU president Lisa Freeman, athletic director Sean Frazier and Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez answered questions after the university’s Board of Trustees approved payment of a $2 million entrance fee to the league, making the move out of the Mid-American Conference for football official.
Here are some of the biggest developments from the press conference.
Landing spots for other spots still up in the air
Freeman said there’s still time to make a decision on the other sports, “but that doesn’t mean none of our sports will stay with them now.”
However, Freeman said MAC rules seem to prohibit the non-football sports from remaining.
“As currently written the MAC by-laws suggest that MAC members need to have FBS football as a sport,” Freeman said. “That suggests to us we need to be thinking differently and regionally to find an appropriate home for our other sports.”
The MAC allows associate members for sports such as soccer and wrestling.
No specific leagues were mentioned despite follow-ups, just Freeman mentioning looking for the best regional opportunity.
Mountain West is done expanding, probably
Appearing via video call, Nevarez said the Mountain West is happy at nine football-playing schools - Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, NIU, San Jose State, UNLV, Texas-El Paso and Wyoming – allowing a four home game, four road game conference schedule with four nonconference games.
“Eight was the magic number to retain FBS status, and we wanted to get to nine in football to have an even home-away scheduling rotation,” Nevarez said. “So we’re going to take a beat and pause and continue to monitor the environment. I’d never say never, but for now we’re not looking to expand further.”
Finances leave officials more than comfortable, even without mentioning specifics
Before bringing in UTEP and NIU, the seven remaining Mountain West schools entered into a memorandum of understanding, committing to stay in the league through 2032.
Nevarez said that also applies to the new programs as well, providing stability.
The MOU also ensured $3.5 million in TV revenue, even if a new deal – which would start in 2026 – falls short of that amount. It also set aside $18 million in recruitment funds for new schools.
Frazier said NIU won’t receive a full share as a football-only member but said the contract still is a benefit to the university.
“We feel comfortable that the share that we have covers our expenses,” Frazier said. “Everything else is a part of that process. We’re getting a football-only share as part of that process, and we’re comfortable with that as well.”
When asked about the recruiting pot, Frazier again didn’t mention specific figures.
“Our expenses based on our budgetary process was covered and we feel comfortable with what that is,” Frazier said.
Upscaling the program
Freeman and Frazier said they expect an increase in revenue with the move while not losing any competitiveness on the field.
The Huskies just beat Fresno State – one of the teams leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 – in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Boise State’s stadium – one of the other teams leaving for the Pac-12.
“When you talk about scaling up, that’s what you have to do,” Hammock said. “We just spent four days out in Boise. I know what that looks like. I know what their facilities look like. I know what the stadium looks like. That’s a commitment. I look forward to NIU being on that type of landscape.”
Freeman said that when conference moves like this are made, they’re often followed by “philanthropic enthusiasm.”
More immediate than stadium upgrades, Frazier said, are increased operational budgets and staffing issues.
Why NIU?
Nevarez said geographic continuity was a focus of the board when looking at potential new members, but NIU checked a lot of other boxes.
“While Chicago and Illinois stretches that eastern boundary a little bit, football is that one sport that travels once a week and had a shorter season,” Nevarez said. “So we felt comfortable with that football-only [program] that got into that fourth time zone that delivered a very strong media market.”