Northern Illinois Huskies Roster 2019 Huskies Roster

Head Coach: Rod Carey        2017 Salary: $623,000        Offensive Coordinator: Mike Uremovich       Defensive Coordinator: Jeff Knowles         

Stadium: Huskie Stadium       Surface: Turf        City: DeKalb        State: Illinois

Northern Illinois flipped the script from previous seasons, succeeding in 2017 on the back of a fearsome defense. Not much has changed for the Huskies except the offense may rise up to a better level this season. However, the non-conference schedule may mean that this team is great only in the MAC as there are too many early season tests for the team to reach double-digit wins.

The Huskies went through a quarterback carousel last season between injuries and under-performance. Mason Childers emerged as the starter, but he was, at best, a game manager-type quarterback who did not lose games. Childers figures to start again this season, and he has the talent around him for the offense to take a step forward. The Huskies have a veteran offensive line that figures to create time for Childers as well as pave the way for the running game.

Northern Illinois earned its living on defense last season. However, the Huskies have lost defensive coordinator Kevin Kane to SMU. Still, Northern Illinois returns most of its defense from last season and promises to be aggressive no matter who the coordinator is. The Huskies play a bold defense that tries to go big or go home.

The Huskies have a simply brutal non-conference schedule so matching last season's win total may be hard. Matchups against Iowa, BYU, Utah and Florida State will be very difficult for the Huskies to win. However, expect Northern Illinois to be tested once it gets into the thick of its MAC schedule.