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Rod Carey

Over a four-month period in the fall of 2012, Rod Carey went from coaching the offensive line of the NIU Huskies, to offensive coordinator of one of the most explosive offenses in the country, to head coach of the first Mid-American Conference team to play in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game. 
Carey’s promotion to head coach of Northern Illinois University’s football team was announced on December 2, 2012, just minutes before NIU and the nation learned that the team had earned a historic bid to face Florida State in the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl.   

Now as he enters his sixth full season at the helm of the NIU program, Carey has “carried” on the winning tradition of the Huskies that has led to NIU’s position as the fifth-winningest team in the nation over the last six seasons. At the same time, NIU has become one of the top academic programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision with a Graduation Success Rate ranked in the top 15 in the country and atop the MAC.

Carey’s NIU teams are 31-12 in his three years as head coach of the program, and have won three Mid-American Conference West titles and the 2014 MAC Championship. The Huskies have played in the MAC title game every year of Carey’s tenure at NIU, an FBS record six consecutive times, with three wins. 

He entered last season tied for eighth on NIU’s all-time coaching wins list, and surpassed Bill Mallory and Jerry Ippoliti to take sole possession of sixth place. He needs three wins in 2016 to move into fourth place on the list, and will rank behind only Huskie coaching legends Chick Evans, Howard Fletcher and Joe Novak in victories. 

Carey-led Huskie teams have three wins over Big Ten Conference teams - more than any of his predecessors. NIU posted a perfect 12-0 regular season record in 2013 behind quarterback Jordan Lynch, who Carey helped develop into the first Heisman Trophy finalist in NIU and MAC history.

NIU’s undefeated 2013 regular season included two wins over Big Ten teams – a 30-27 last-minute win over Iowa in the season opener and a 55-24 blowout victory at Purdue. Behind All-Americans Lynch and Jimmie Ward, the Huskies spent 12 weeks in the Top 25 rankings and coasted through the league slate to win the MAC West title and advance to the MAC Championship game.

 

COACHING EXPERIENCE

2011- NIU Head Coach ^ (2012-present)
NIU Offensive Coordinator * (2012)
NIU Offensive Line/Run Game Coord. (2012) 
NIU Offensive Line (2011)
2008-10 North Dakota (Offensive Line)
2007 Illinois State (Offensive Line)
2000-06 Wisconsin-Stout (Off. Coord./Off. Line
1998-00 Minnesota (Graduate Assistant)

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE

2017 Quick Lane Bowl (NIU, Head Coach)
2015 Poinsettia Bowl (NIU, Head Coach)
2014 Boca Raton Bowl (NIU, Head Coach)
2013 Poinsettia Bowl (NIU, Head Coach)
2013 Orange Bowl (NIU, Head Coach)
2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl (NIU)
2000 NCAA D-III Playoffs (UW-Stout)
1999 Sun Bowl (Minnesota)
1993 Independence Bowl (Indiana, Player)
1991 Copper Bowl (Indiana, Player)
1990 Peach Bowl (Indiana, Player)

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

1989-93 Indiana (Center)

EDUCATION

College B.A., Indiana, 1993 

PERSONAL

Birthdate July 24, 1971
Birthplace Madison, Wis.
Hometown Wayzata, Minn.
Family Wife, Tonya, daughter Kennedi; son Charlie

^-Named NIU's 22nd head football coach Dec. 2, 2012
*-Assumed offensive coordinator duties Sept. 2, 2012