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DeKALB - Third-year NIU football coach Thomas Hammock calls Clint Ratkovich a professional. And Hammock thinks by April that Ratkovich will be one.
“He’s the strongest guy on our football team, bar none, regardless of position,” Hammock said of the 6-foot-1, 228-pound senior transfer from Western Illinois. “He knows how to work. He knows how to train. He knows how to take care of his body. The guys respect him. The way he goes about his business, he’s a pro. And in six to eight months, he will be a pro. So we want to make sure we put him in position to play his best football his last year and let the chips fall where they may.”
Ratkovich, a graduate of Crete-Monee who played on the 2015 state-runner up team, transferred into the NIU program in January and has gone through spring practice with the team. Although listed as a running back, he’s been split out while other backs such as Harrison Waylee, Erin Collins and Jevyon Ducker have been in the backfield.
At Western, Ratkovich had 128 receptions for 1,204 yards in 35 games.
“I’m kind of a bigger back, a little taller than the usual back,” Ratkovich said. “I was able to do really good blocking, and that’s what stood out to them. I was able to get some success out there, started running some good routes, have some good hands, catch the ball, work on that a lot.”
Hammock, a former running backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens, said if he still were in the NFL, he’d be very interested in Ratkovich for his team. Not only is Ratkovich versatile, but Hammock said he’s smart and the strongest player on the team.
Offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness said there’s nothing the staff has thrown at Ratkovich that he hasn’t been able to handle.
That allows the Huskies to do a lot of things depending on how other teams play Ratkovich. Put an extra linebacker in there?
“You can split him out wide and put your best receiver out there running routes on a linebacker,” Eidsness said. “You want to see how teams are playing you, and once they show their hand, you can get to the best thing as far as your team, what they’re able to do.”
And if teams treat him as a receiver and put in an extra cornerback?
“Now you can motion him in and make that defensive back have to be a tackle,” Eidsness said.
Ratkovich said NIU and coach Tony Sorrentino was the first program to reach out to him after he entered the transfer portal. A couple days later, he talking to Hammock. Then he was a Huskie.
He wasn’t around for NIU’'s 0-6 season in 2020, but he said even in his short time here he’s seen players improve.
“Since I’ve got here, I’ve seen major improvement, especially from the younger guys,” Ratkovich said. “We’ve got a bunch of younger guys, but just the maturity level from now since I first got here is massively different. It’s night and day.”
Hammock said he’s also been impressed with Ratkovich’s leadership skills.
“Even some of those second-year guys, this is their first fall camp because of last year,” Ratkovich said. “You just kind of show them the ropes, how to practice. Camp can be tough. You’ve just got to stay mentally strong and power through that.”
Eidsness said there are endless ways to get Ratkovich involved in the offense.
“With him, you just have to be creative,” Eidsness said. “The other thing with him is he’s a smart kid, just graduated with an engineering degree. He is physically strong enough to do those different things, skilled enough that he can catch, run out of the backfield or block someone if he needs to. And most importantly, he’s an unselfish player.”
Hammock said he expects Ratkovich to be a centerpiece of the offense.
“We’re going to try to maximize him every way we can,” Hammock said. “He’s played a lot of football in college. He can handle a lot of volume. He’s a very smart young man. Engineering degree. We’re going to put as much on his plate as he can handle.”