DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football was back on the football field prepping for the upcoming 2020 Mid-American Conference season Monday morning.
 
The Huskies, who are practicing for the fourth time since it was announced the season was back on, worked out for an hour and a half in the crisp DeKalb air at Huskie Stadium. Hammock was pleased with the way the team responded.
 
"It felt really good," Hammock said about being out on the practice field. "For us, it's been a long time coming and a lot of uncertainty, but it was good to have a focus, a narrow focus, on knowing the start date and knowing the things we need to get done to get ready for the season. Our players had great energy and it's been outstanding."
 
The Huskies started their first full week of practice, the same day the NIU Athletics Department unveiled Huskies Invest 2020: The Campaign. Intended to mitigate some of the financial shortfalls due to COVID-19 while investing in NIU's more than 400 student-athletes, Huskies Invest 2020: The Campaign will extend through the NIU Foundation's Thousands Strong Initiative. Click here to donate now or call 815-753-1923 to speak with a Huskie Athletic Fund staff member between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
 
All Mid-American Conference schools will start their seasons on Wednesday, November 4. Having that start date to point to, Hammock can see the difference in his squad early in practice.
 
"You went from trying to keep the players engaged during the fall semester to now we're preparing for a game," Hammock said. "I think the urgency has certainly picked up amongst the coaches. It has certainly picked up amongst the players and guys know that we need to get ourselves mentally and physically prepared to play a MAC season."
 
Without a traditional fall camp and classes already in session, Hammock and his staff had to adjust their practice schedule accordingly.
 
"We looked at a normal camp schedule, and what we wanted to do was take the things from camp that we thought were productive and we could be efficient with our time and try to get that into a school day," he said. "You can't have the players here more than four hours a day. The things that you would normally space out take more time during training camp, you have to be able to condense in a timely fashion to make sure we're not going over our time, but with the understanding that these guys are in class, have study tables, tutoring, etc.
 
"We want to make sure we can be as efficient and effective with our time. I think the way we have our schedule mapped out is really good. We get our physical work in the morning with practice."
 
In the spirit of efficiency and with an eye on safety, Hammock and his staff are also taking advantage of the technology they relied on during the pandemic to continue to coach their players up outside the practice field or meeting rooms.
 
"I think Zoom helps a lot now too," he said. "You can have an opportunity to grab a guy on a meeting and he doesn't have to physically come back into the building. We still want to be cautious in everything we're doing because of COVID and making sure we're being smart and safe to prevent the spread of this virus that is still in play."
 
Hammock has a very simple goal for his squad leading up to their first game of the season.
 
"The goal is to progressively build this team up, to get them ready and peaking by November 4th," he said. "You have to build them up to be able to sustain a two-hour practice, which helps prepare you for a three-hour game. You don't just jump right into it day one. What we tried to do is progressively work ourselves back into practice shape, into game shape and we want to peak at the right moment."
 
-NIU-