NIU football coach Thomas Hammock signs extension through 2026 season

In the middle of his first bowl-eligible season in three years at the helm of the NIU football program, coach Thomas Hammock and the school have agreed to a contract extension through the 2026-27 school year, NIU Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Sean Frazier announced Tuesday.

The new contract will earn him more than $600,000 a year in the two new years of the contract. According to the contract, it was signed yesterday and also includes a salary pool figure of just more than $1.3 million. The number was not specified in the original contract.

Hammock is 11-16 during his tenure. After an 0-6 season last year, the Huskies enter Wednesday’s game against Ball State in first place in the MAC West with a 4-1 record and are 6-3 overall this season. They’ve done so with a roster of 75 first- and second-year players.

“My family and I appreciate the opportunity to be at NIU and to lead this football program and be a part of the university community that has meant so much to us,” Hammock said in a statement. “Since I got here in 2019, the leadership of President [Lisa] Freeman, Sean Frazier and [Deputy Athletic Director] John Cheney has been amazing. This extension is another sign of the confidence they have in me and in our staff as we continue to build and grow this program.”

According to his contract signed in 2019, Hammock will earn $530,608.56 this year with his salary rising over the next three years. He is scheduled to earn $563,086.32 in 2024, the last year of his initial contract. He’ll earn just more than $603,000 in 2025 and $623,000 in 2026.

“Under Coach Hammock, our program has made tremendous strides forward – competitively, academically and socially,” Frazier said in a statement. “We are seeing the tangible results of that progress on the field this year, and over the past two years we have seen it in the record-setting team GPA and the commitment to doing things the right way on and off the field. As a former player and alumnus, Thomas is invested in this university, in this athletic department and in this community. He is very deserving of this contract extension, and we look forward to continuing the upward trajectory of NIU Football.”

Hammock took over the reins of the Huskie football program in January 2019 after five seasons as running backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens and previous collegiate coaching experience at NIU, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“As an alum, I’m very proud to lead this program,” Hammock said. “I love the young men on our team, I love our staff, and I love the direction we’re headed.”