DEKALB, Ill. –Northern Illinois University football head coach Thomas Hammock announced the addition of three new assistant coaches to his staff Wednesday, finalizing his full-time coaching staff for 2019.
 
Atif Austin, Houston Jones and Tony Sorrentino all join the Huskie coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball. Austin will coach the Huskie running backs and coordinate the special teams units, while Jones and Sorrentino will lead the wide receiver and tight end position groups, respectively.
 
Austin comes to NIU with a championship pedigree having spent last season as an assistant running backs coach with the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. Prior to his year in the NFL, the native of Tarpon Springs, Fla. spent four seasons (2014-18) with Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powerhouse North Dakota State where he coached the Bison wide receivers and special teams. During his four-year tenure in Fargo, the Bison won three National Championships and three Missouri Valley Football Conference titles.
 
"I've known Atif for a long time and had the opportunity to work with him on occasion," Hammock said. "He spent four years at North Dakota State where he was a part of three national championships. He spent the past year as assistant running backs coach with the New England Patriots, who also won the Super Bowl. We've been talking about working together for many years. He will definitely help our team and help us win, 'The Hard Way'."
 
A four-year starter at defensive back for Iowa State (1999-2002), Austin was the running backs coach at Stetson in 2013. He also spent five seasons as running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Northern Iowa from 2005-10 after beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Southwest Minnesota State (2003-04).
 
"It's very exciting just to get around these new coaches," Austin said. "Coach Hammock is exciting and he's very excited about this opportunity and this staff. He definitely wants to do this thing 'The Hard Way'. That's the message he's been giving and he's put his standard down that we're going to do things the right way. We're going to make sure these kids do well in the classroom and attack the grass. We're going to make sure we have fun and win championships around here."
 
Another former Cyclone, Jones comes to DeKalb from Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn. where he was passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the last three seasons.
 
"Houston Jones is a great young coach that I've been fortunate to get on my staff," Hammock said. "I'm always looking for guys that have been elevated at places where they've been. He played wide receiver at Iowa State and has experience coaching wide receivers. He's a great recruiter and a great young coach that's going to do things the right way."
 
Before joining the Golden Bears staff, Jones was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Dakota Wesleyan for three seasons, where he also earned his masters degree. He worked with standout wide receiver Anthony Muilenburg, who set the program's single game receiving yards record (251) and was the ninth-ranked receiver in NAIA with 1,002 yards in 2013. A native of Oklahoma City, Okla., Jones played wide receiver at Iowa State from 2005-09.
 
"I'm extremely excited to be here in DeKalb and get everything going," Jones said. "Coach Hammock has done a great job organizing his staff and getting everyone together and I'm just jacked up to be here and ready to get rolling."
 
A veteran coach with experience at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, Sorrentino comes to NIU after spending the 2018 season as director of football operations at Florida Atlantic. A New Jersey native, Hammock and Sorrentino worked together at Minnesota, where Sorrentino served as offensive quality control in coach 2009 and quarterbacks coach in 2010.
 
"Tony is a guy that I've known for a while," Hammock said. "He has 14 years coaching experience at various levels, NFL, SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Division III and high schools. He's high energy and a great recruiter. He's going to do well for us in the Chicagoland area. I think he's going to be a great asset for us coaching our tight ends position.
 
In addition to working at FAU and Minnesota, Sorrentino had stops at the University of Miami (2011), Tennessee (2017), The College of New Jersey (2007 & 2012), his alma mater, and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-16) where worked with the wide receivers.
 
Under Sorrentino's tutelage, Jaguar wide receiver Marqise Lee posted career highs in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2016, while Allen Robinson earned his first Pro Bowl recognition in 2015. Also in 2015, Allen Hurns became the youngest undrafted player since the 1970 NFL merger to post 1,000-plus receiving yards and 10-plus receiving TDs in a single season.
 
"It's unbelievable," Sorrentino said of being reunited with Hammock here at NIU. "We were at Minnesota together in 2009 and 2010 and I was a young coach in the profession. Even though coach Hammock and I are close in age, I always looked up to him. I knew back then he had the 'it' factor. I couldn't be happier to get up here and get working with coach Hammock."
 
The addition of Austin, Jones and Sorrentino rounds out a Huskie offensive staff that includes Eric Eisdness, who will serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa.
 
-NIU-