New corners Shaad Dabney, Gabriel Amegatcher looking to spark NIU turnaround

DeKALB — Last year, NIU ranked 101st nationally in pass defense out of 131 teams.

With two new faces leading the way at cornerback, the group is expecting a big turnaround this season.

“They showed me a lot of love compared to the other offers I got. They were showing me a lot of interest, and they told me they needed me, so I was like, ‘Why not?’ ”

—  Gabriel Amegatcher

“It makes me want to come in and gives me something to work for,” said junior Kansas transfer Shaad Dabney. “It gives me something to look forward to, knowing we struggled in this room a lot last year, teams probably coming in this year thinking it’s going to be the same thing.”

Dabney’s already had an impact on the first two spring practices, taking an interception back for a touchdown in full team drills Friday. He had a pass breakup earlier in the day as well.

Dabney’s not the only new face at cornerback. Although the Huskies lost Eric Rogers and Jordan Gandy through the transfer portal, Dabney and grad transfer Gabriel Amegatcher (Nebraska-Kearney) came on board.

Throw Amegatcher and Dabney in with returners like juniors Jashon Prophetter and JaVaughn Byrd, sophomore Ty Myles and freshmen Jacob Finley and Amariyun Knightley, and the team is very optimistic about the chances of a turnaround.

“We look really good, honestly,” Amegatcher said. “A lot of guys are young, but they are really talented. Shaad and Byrd and Finn and Nuney (Knighten), they’re very talented at what they do.

“It’s a lot of competition, and we all support one another. We all ride together.”

Dabney had three tackles for Kansas last year despite appearing in almost every game.

“Shaad’s done a great job coming in and going to work,” said defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto, who also coaches safeties. The Huskies currently don’t have a cornerbacks coach. “He’s a smart football player, smart young man that understands the game of football. When you see how he studies film, he understands what is going on, what an offense is trying to do to attack. He does a good job of reacting off his linemen and keys.”

Amegatcher, a graduate of Lockport, played 13 games in 2021 for UNK with 11 tackles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He made nine tackles in four games last season.

“They showed me a lot of love compared to the other offers I got,” Amegatcher said. “They were showing me a lot of interest, and they told me they needed me, so I was like, ‘Why not?’ ”

The Huskies finished last season 3-9 after winning the MAC in 2021. Not only did they surrender 252.8 yards per game, but the 8.4 yards per pass was the eighth-worst average in NCAA Division I football last year.

“Obviously we want to take it the next step in the right direction,” Amegatcher said. “Yeah we lost a couple guys ... and we don’t have a coach right now, but we’re really honing in on the technique with what we do have.”

Head coach Thomas Hammock, entering his fifth year with the program, said the biggest improvement he wants to see out of the secondary is seeing the group be dominant competitors every day.

He said that extends beyond the field and into the classroom and team meetings as well. And he said, so far, that’s what he’s seen.

When the team practices in pads for the first time Sunday, he said he expects to see even more.

“They’ve been phenomenal from a leadership standpoint, from an experience standpoint, from a competitive standpoint,” Hammock said of Dabney and Amegatcher. “Through two practices they’ve done what they’ve needed to do. On Sunday the heat’s going to turn up, and I expect them to rise to the occasion.”