Hello Huskie Fans –

With our NIU Football team riding a five-game winning streak and returning home for two important #MACtion games in November, the Huskie men's and women's basketball teams tipping off their seasons, and the volleyball and men's soccer teams heading into postseason play, there are so many reasons to get fired up about NIU Athletics at this time of year.

Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Huskie Stadium, it's one of the biggest football games of the season as NIU and Toledo once again do battle with huge MAC West title implications. On Military and First Responders Appreciation Night, we want to "Black Out" Huskie Stadium, so wear black and come prepared to GET LOUD as you show your  Huskie Pride in front of an ESPN2 national television audience. Purchase or donate tickets for $10 each when you go to NIUHuskies.com/Tickets and use the Promo Code STARSANDSTRIPES.  

In addition to the football game, this week, you can also see two NIU men's basketball games (Tuesday and Friday), watch Lisa Carlsen's NIU women's basketball team open its season versus Yale in a Preseason WNIT match-up (Thursday) and cheer on the NIU volleyball team in its last home matches of the year (Friday and Saturday). See them all, including Wednesday's football game, for just $40 when you purchase the Huskie Six-Pack.  

I love seeing all the hard work put in by our Huskie Football team show up as wins on the scoreboard, led by Head Coach Rod Carey, who earned his 50^th win as NIU head coach last week at Akron and is now one of the 20 winningest coaches all-time in the MAC.  Rod's .649 winning percentage as a head coach – all at NIU – rank him 28^th among all active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches with at least five seasons coached, just ahead of Kansas State legend Bill Snyder.

Rod's work with our program extends far beyond wins and losses, to recruiting the type of players who exemplify #TheHardWay mentality, to bringing in guest speakers on domestic violence, leadership, nutrition, financial responsibility and more, to prioritizing academic success, graduation and community service.

As we prepared to play Akron last Thursday in Akron, many of you were surprised to learn that back in January 2018, we finalized a contract extension which will keep Rod at the helm of the NIU program through June 2022.  I received questions as to why this extension was not publicly announced.

While I object to any characterization of this contract extension as "secret," and there was certainly no intent to avoid public review, I have heard your questions, and I will respond to those with concerns. I want to assure you that, while it has not been our regular practice to pre-emptively announce contract extensions and/or renegotiations, all procedures laid out by the Board of Trustees, the university's human resources department, the General Counsel's Office, and the state of Illinois have been meticulously followed.

Going forward, I will work with the leadership of our department and of the university to do better. Whether that is providing regular press releases on extensions or making contracts even more accessible than they currently are, we will make sure that the proper level of communication is provided.

Along those lines, I can tell you that in the past year, we have executed contract extensions for seven Huskie head coaches in addition to Coach Carey, including Lisa Carlsen (women's basketball), Sam Morreale (women's gymnastics), Connie Teaberry (indoor and outdoor track and field/cross country), Ryan Ludwig (wrestling), Mike Kunigonis (baseball), Kim Kester (women's golf) and Patrick Fisher (men's tennis). They are all quality coaches who are committed to this community, to NIU and to bringing in and developing successful students, athletes and citizens.

As we often state, athletics is the front porch of the university, and with that status comes a high level of media attention, which we welcome. Since I have been at NIU, I believe we have been up-front and honest when queried on the issues facing our department. We have been responsive to the voices of our fans in areas such as football scheduling (i.e. #SchedulePalooza), the formation of the Huskie Fan Advisory Board, moving The Yard inside for #MACtion games, increasing concession options at both Huskie Stadium and the NIU Convocation Center, and improving the overall fan experience at NIU games. 

A wide variety of documents, including our Annual Report, Strategic Plan, Athletics Facilities Master Plan, Campaign to Sustain, Student-Athlete Handbook and more are available for all to see on our website at NIUHuskies.com.

There are so many positives surrounding NIU Athletics. Our focus remains to provide the best possible experience for our more than 400 amazing student-athletes across all 17 sports programs who proudly represent Northern Illinois University every day.  I hope you will continue to join me in supporting them. 

There is no better time than now to show that support. Today (Monday) we kick off the Second Annual "Huskies Invest: A Week of Giving," inviting alumni, fans, community members and everyone who cares about this athletics program to donate to the Huskie Athletic Fund and invest in the future of NIU Athletics.  Throughout the week, NIU will showcase its student-athletes, coaches and supporters through videos and graphics on social media, with the goal to raise at least $200,000 by November 9. These donations will be used to offset unrestricted operational needs, as well as fund Cost of Attendance scholarships for Huskie student-athletes.

All new donors who participate in the Week of Giving will contribute to the "Drive for 25" as we look to increase membership in the Huskie Athletic Fund to 2,500 donors. The goal of the Drive for 25 is to build our base of support, starting with donations at the $25 level or above.

See more on the Week of Giving and the Drive for 25, including a referral program for current donors, online at huskieathleticfund.com or by calling 815-753-1923.

Purchasing season tickets, making a donation to the Huskie Athletic Fund and/or your favorite sports program, and attending events are by far the most impactful ways that the members of Huskie Nation can show their support for NIU student-athletes. To those who are already in that number, we appreciate you!   

Thank you all for reading, for your support and for your passion for Huskie Athletics.

Go Huskies!

 Sean T. Frazier
NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics