Football | August 1

DeKALB, IL – As the Northern Illinois University football team begins its fall camp this week at Huskie Stadium, head coach Thomas Hammock and his staff are beginning to build depth among the 120-player roster. To have the best opportunity to do this, the team has been split into two squads for the first three practices of training camp.
 
"It's something we did in Baltimore," said Hammock about his time with the Ravens from 2014-18. "We doubled-down a bunch of practices because we wanted to see who could make the team. From a college standpoint, we're trying to see who can get on the bus. We would be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't evaluate every single guy on the roster and see what they can do."
 
NIU has held two sessions each of the first two days of training camp, with one going from 7 a.m.-9:30 a.m. and the second from 9-10:30 a.m. with an overlapping period of special teams. This allows the most involvement in the early practices of camp, especially for the newcomers to the program.
 
"We've got over 35 freshmen on our team, and I don't think any of those guys came here not to have an opportunity to show what they can do," Hammock said. "There aren't many teams in the country giving freshmen reps. We want to give guys a chance to get reps and develop and show what they can do to have every opportunity to help our football team. We believe in the best players playing, and it's hard to figure out who that is if they don't get opportunities in practice."
 
For players like redshirt-junior defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard (Milwaukee, Wis./Upper Iowa), it's a chance to get themselves as well as their teammates back in the routine of training camp practices.
 
"We're trying to get the young guys acclimated while also getting prepared ourselves for all of camp," said Howard. "It's new for us, but it's been pretty fun and smooth."
 
"They're competing with each other and want to see what they're all doing," Hammock added. "Some guys in the later session are watching the early group to see what they have to do in practice to get an opportunity to play. Depth is your friend, and the only way you can have depth is to give guys an opportunity to play. You get better at football by playing football and that's what we're trying to do."
 
The Huskies are back on the practice field Friday morning for their final split-squad practices of the week before the full team practices together on Saturday afternoon.
 
NIU season, single game and mini-plan tickets are on sale now. Check out all of the ticket options and buy tickets anytime online at NIUHuskies.com/myhuskies. To request more information and connect with a member of the NIU ticket staff, click here or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225). Calls received outside of business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm CT) will be returned the next business day. 
 
--NIU--