DeKALB - Seated behind his sparkling new wood desk, peering out the window at his players sweating through a summer workout on Brigham Field, Joe Novak ushered a new era in Huskie athletics with a kiss. Last week, the Northern Illinois football coach and his staff moved into the highly publicized Yordon Center, a 62,000-square foot building adjacent to the South End Zone of Huskie Stadium. “I wanted out of my old office," Novak said. “I kissed it goodbye last week. I vowed to never go back." Having spent the previous 11 years stuck in the dungeon-like setting inside the cavernous Huskie Stadium, Novak didn't mind trading his old office in exchange for a sunnier outlook. “Right now I'm looking out a window," Novak said. “I haven't looked out a window. That might not seem like a big deal to some people, but I can see it's sunny outside. I've got a smile on my face. Your whole make-up and feeling is different." Defensive ends coach Mike Sabock currently holds the distinction of owning one of the longest continuous tenures with one program. Starting his 24th year this fall, Sabock's endured four head coaches and three different offices. And a tornado or two. “Many times my wife used to call me and would be worried because there was a tornado warning," Sabock said. “Our offices would be surrounded by concrete and steel. The coaches never had any clue. It could be storming when we came in the morning and it would be sunshine at lunch time. In the winter, we would never even see daylight." The impressive facility is part of a new standard for NIU athletics that's expected to bring a smile to every student-athlete and athletic department employee. The $14-million Yordon Center was named after Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon, who donated $2.5 million to the school in November 2006 - the largest gift to Huskie Athletics in the 107-year history of the institution. Northern Illinois Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Jim Phillips said the Yordon Center is an extension of his plan for providing top quality resources for student-athletes. “The number one priority since my arrival has been to build an infrastructure that allows us to support the dreams of our student-athletes," Phillips said. “This facility helps us accomplish that goal, and is a huge step forward in providing our students with a world-class experience." Even with the Yordon Center not yet 100 percent completed, the Huskie coaching staff received an early glimpse at its impact on recruiting. Last Saturday, a potential recruit made an unplanned visit to the campus, becoming one of the first recruits to tour the Yordon Center. Novak said the coaching staff tried not to let recruits visit the cramped coaches offices or antiquated meeting rooms at Huskie Stadium. Abandoning his old facility won't be a problem for Novak, but incorporating a visual-based recruiting pitch represents a dramatic change. “We used to never show our old offices to anybody," Novak said. “We never took anybody upstairs. We struggled to show them the locker room, but we had to do it. It wasn't a part of our recruiting pitch. It really hurt us. Now this building I think might be the nicest in the Mid-American Conference. What a change." Another one of Sabock's duties is to coordinate recruiting. He makes several recruiting trips to high schools, and helps direct the players during in-house visits. The effect of the Yordon Center on recruiting remains to be seen, but Sabock expects the building to clearly help in luring Chicago-area recruits to Northern Illinois. “In the past, our philosophy was if we could get a player here to campus and he liked us, we always worried about them going someplace else, like a Western Michigan or Central Michigan," he said. “Once they went there, they saw what that school had that we didn't have. Kids would love it here. They would love coach Novak and all the personal treatment and love our players. They would love everything and then they would go to Western Michigan, which has great facilities. To them, it would look like they were at a different level than us because most people are visual." Sabock said the list of players opting to attend another conference school because of NIU's shoddy facilities could form a competitive team. Thankfully, Sabock said that weakness was addressed by the Yordon Center. “It's a fact that we flat-out lost kids to schools because of our facilities," Sabock said. “It would have made a difference. We played against a lot of those players who went to other MAC schools. We lost a lot of guys that would have helped us win football games." The coaching staff doesn't have to show the Yordon Center plans to recruits anymore. Nor worry about finding the right colored chairs. The Yordon Center features spacious coaches offices complete with nine position meeting rooms, and a 150-seat tiered meeting room that can be divided. Previously, the football staff had to coordinate meetings and didn't have enough chairs to allow recruits and family members to sit down. “We used to have to share rooms," Sabock said. “Now we can take a defensive end into a room and meet with him and his parents for an hour. We don't have to worry about what chairs we're going to use and if the chairs match. Those were big problems. We would go into a meeting room and have four different type of chairs, and two of them would be broken. We would have to scramble trying to get things to match. It was crazy." The privately funded building features an academic support center with one-on-one tutorial rooms and 27 computers. A 15,000-square foot strength and conditioning center houses cardinal-and-black colored Power Lift equipment, and a 40-yard sprint track. Recruits can enter through the front lobby and walk past a bronzed Huskie onto the field via the Huskie tunnel. An atrium on the second floor adjoins two outdoor roof terraces, serving as an ideal area for entertaining fans and potential recruits, and for coaches to watch informal practices. Sabock said designing a gameplan to maximize recruiting visits is an adjustment in philosophy for the coaches. “The first thing is going to decide what we're going to do on game day for recruits," he said. “It's so nice to have kids pick up tickets here. We used to have them pick tickets up in a concrete hallway. We took them on the field and in their seats and that was it. This year they will come in the main entrance and meet somebody, get tickets and then come upstairs to the team meeting room and see a highlight film. A coach can come in and talk with them about the game. We can have academic people give them a quick presentation. We can show them the weight room. This will make a huge difference." Under the guidance of Novak, even with outdated offices and meeting rooms, the Huskies have posted a school-record seven straight winning seasons, including two bowl trips in the last three years sandwiched around an outright West division title. Northern Illinois starting quarterback Dan Nicholson said the Yordon Center will bring a windfall of talented recruits. “It's awesome," Nicholson said. “I was looking for the training room and got lost. I think it will really help in recruiting with kids on the fence where facilities could've been the deciding factor in the past, but not anymore." Junior wide receiver Britt Davis agreed. “When I first went in there a couple of weeks ago, I felt like I was at a big-time program It's a huge step up for us," Davis said. “That building is going to do a lot of things for us. It will be nice for the young guys to have that for the next four to five years." A tour of the facility reveals numerous aspects which Novak calls the “wow factor." The coaches locker room segways into the main locker room. The locker room gives the players adequate space to store their equipment and gather before games. A football-shaped logo covers the main ceiling of the locker room, and each player has a combination code for their valuables and equipment. A video-editing rooms lets coaches watch game film in meeting rooms or their offices. The athletic training room will efficiently coordinate rehabiliation for Huskie student-athletes. Head trainer Phil Voorhis said the new facility is an invaluable resource for his staff. “The biggest thing is putting a lot of things from different facilities under the same roof," Voorhis said. “It makes our jobs easier. We have adequate space to do everything in one area. There's no more changing in the hallway or sending somebody to a doctor in another building." Sabock said the best aspect about the Yordon Center isn't the flashy decor, countless meeting rooms or academic support center. The best feature is providing lip service to Phillips' vision of Huskie athletics. “This shows our commitment from the university," Sabock said. “This is a commitment to the football program and to the student-athletes with our academic center downstairs that other universities have already shown. Kids say you talk about commitment, but where's your commitment to a world-class experience. Now this is another step toward having a world-class experience as a student-athlete." Bobby Narang can be reached at bnarang@daily-chronicle.com.