Jan. 23, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio - Former Northern Illinois Head Coach Joe Novak, a 1967 graduate of Miami University, will be inducted into that school's athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 9 along with seven other Redhawk greats.
Novak, who announced his retirement from coaching on Nov. 26, 2007 after 12 years at the helm of the Northern Illinois program, currently serves as a Special Assistant to Athletic Director Jim Phillips. He and his wife, Carole, will return to their alma mater for induction ceremonies in Oxford Feb. 8-9, including a reception on Friday, Feb. 8, a brunch Saturday morning and a halftime introduction during the Miami-Central Michigan men's basketball game.
As a defensive end for legendary coach Bo Schembechler at Miami, Novak was a member of two MAC Co-Championship teams in 1965 and '66 and earned a pair of letters. He began his collegiate coaching career at Miami as an assistant coach under Dick Crum from 1974-76. During that time, MU won two MAC titles, going 5-0 in conference play in 1974 and 6-0 in 1975. Miami defeated Georgia in the 1974 Tangerine Bowl and defeated South Carolina in the 1975 Tangerine Bowl.
After making coaching stops at Illinois, NIU and Indiana, the latter two as defensive coordinator, Novak took over as head coach of the Northern Illinois program in 1996 and engineered a turnaround in Huskie football fortunes. He won more games than any NIU coach in modern history and led the Huskies to unprecedented success, including a share of four MAC West Division titles and two bowl appearances. From the middle of the 1999 campaign through the end of the 2006 season, his Huskies won 58 of 90 (64.4 percent) of their games. Northern Illinois was one of just 18 programs in the nation, and the only team not affiliated with a Bowl Championship Series conference, to post seven straight winning seasons from 2000-06.
He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2002 and was named the Region 3 Division I-A Coach of the Year by the AFCA in 2003. The Mentor, Ohio native finished his coaching career ranked among the league's top 10 for career wins and MAC wins.
For more information on Miami's 2008 Hall of Fame Class and details of its Hall of Fame festivities, click here.
-- NIU --
