Dec. 28, 2010

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren announced the hiring of a pair of assistant coaches on the offensive side of the football on Tuesday as he continues to fill positions on his Huskie coaching staff.

Eddie Faulkner, who has spent the last six seasons coaching running backs at Ball State and served as the Cardinals' offensive coordinator for the past two years, will tutor the Northern Illinois tailbacks, while Kevin Kane, a member of the football staff at Wisconsin for the past three seasons, will coach the NIU tight ends and fullbacks.

"I am extremely pleased to announce these additions to our offensive staff," Doeren said. "Eddie Faulkner is a proven winner both as a player and coach. He has up close and personal knowledge of the running back position and the Mid-American Conference. I know that Eddie and his wife Anissa are very excited to be joining the Huskie family."

Faulkner has coached the running backs at Ball State since 2005 and has been the Cardinals' offensive coordinator for the last two seasons. Under his direction, tailback MiQuale Lewis set the Ball State single season rushing record during the Cardinals' undefeated Mid-American Conference regular season campaign in 2008. Ball State was ranked for nine straight weeks that season and achieved a ranking of as high as No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings.

The previous year, the BSU backfield tallied nearly 2,000 rushing yards despite losing Lewis in the fifth game of the season. Ball State played in bowl games following both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. After beginning his coaching career at Anderson University in 2002 as running backs coach and junior varsity offensive coordinator, Faulkner, a native of Muncie, spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons on the Ball State coaching staff as a graduate assistant coach.

He was a four-year letterwinner at tailback for the University of Wisconsin and helped the Badgers to two Big Ten Championships and five bowl games during his playing career. After graduating from UW, he was a free agent signee of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001 and played professionally with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.

After watching the Huskie offense as an opposing coach for the last eight years at Ball State, Faulkner said he was pleased to be joining Doeren and the Huskie coaching staff in 2011.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to come to Northern Illinois," Faulkner said. "Coach Doeren comes from the program I played for at Wisconsin, so I know how they play football there. From facing Northern Illinois since I have been at Ball State, I know the kind of football they play at NIU and I have always respected how they played, going back to Coach Novak and more recently with Coach Kill. I am very happy to be joining a program that has been so successful in the Mid-American Conference."

Kane comes to NIU after three seasons on the football staff at the University of Wisconsin. An All-Big 12 Conference linebacker for Doeren at the University of Kansas from 2002-05, Kane was a graduate assistant at Wisconsin for the 2008 and 2009 seasons before serving as the Quality Control Assistant for the UW defense in 2010.

Prior to going to Wisconsin, the Parkville, Mo. native was a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater for two seasons; he was part of the KU coaching staff that led the Jayhawks to the 2008 Orange Bowl Championship. Kane earned a master's degree in strategic communication from KU in 2007.

"Kevin is a rising star in the coaching profession," Doeren said. "He has a great mind for the game and his passion and competitive spirit are contagious. He is a winner in every sense of the word. In addition to working with the tight ends and fullbacks, he will be very involved with our special teams. I am so proud to have him and his wife Theresa on our staff."

As a player, he earned honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades from the Associated Press following both his junior and senior seasons and was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree. He won KU's Nolan Cromwell Award for Leadership following his junior year and served as a team captain as a senior. He also won a state championship as a high school junior at Rockhurst High School in Missouri.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to come to Northern Illinois and work for Coach Doeren," Kane said. "I've worked for him for the last three years, and played for him prior to that so it's great to be joining the Huskies as part of his staff. I am excited to get down there and work with a team that has been so successful, and coach players that have been coached hard before and had the kind of success they have had."

Faulkner and Kane will serve on the Huskies' offensive staff with coordinator Matt Canada. Doeren previously announced the hiring of Brad Ohrt as director of sports performance, Jay Niemann as defensive coordinator/safeties coach and Ryan Nielsen as defensive line coach, while linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz will return as a member of the new staff.

-- NIU -