Carifio: Questions looming about NIU football in 2025 paint 2024 in different light

Something NIU football coach Thomas Hammock said after his team’s 28-20 win over Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl got me thinking.

No, not the dump quote.

After being showered in french fries after the victory, Hammock said to a national ESPN audience “That was the best dump of my career.”

That quote is perfect. 12/10 no notes.

No, the quote I’ve been fixating on came afterward as the Huskies wrapped up celebrating and finishing the season 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.

“You beat Notre Dame at their place, won eight games and finished as bowl champions. I’d like to say that’s a pretty successful season.”

Hard to disagree with that statement. NIU has won bowl games in consecutive years for the first time since 2010-2011 on top of everything else Hammock mentioned.

But what gets me thinking is just how much better this season should have been. Especially because of the looming specter of a rebuild/reload/whatever-your-euphemism-of-choice-is season heading NIU’s way in 2025.

Forget the transfer portal, although the losses of Trayvon Rudolph (San Diego State), Santana Banner (Missouri), Skyler Gill-Howard (Texas Tech) and others sting a bit.

Portal or not 2025 always was going to be a rebuild. There were 30 seniors on the roster and not expected to return, although with the secretive redshirt process, the fact former JUCO players have an extra year of eligibility next year and who knows what else, some of them may be back.

But that’s still basically 30 players gone, and almost two dozen who have been here their whole careers. Essentially Hammock’s first recruiting class, more or less. Plus another dozen or so in the portal.

And then there’s the fact that defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto left for Fresno State after the Huskies dispatched the Bulldogs in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. That throws another big question mark into a mix that already has enough of them.

Under normal circumstances, you’d call this a successful year and move on.

NIU followed the Notre Dame win – the first time any MAC school beat a top-5 opponents – with a loss to Buffalo. Then after beating a Bowling Green team that ended up finishing one win away from forcing a three-way tie atop the MAC, the Huskies lost to Toledo and Ball State.

You’d write off the two losses in the MAC to teams that finished 4-4 or worse as unfortunate and look at all the building blocks for next year.

But a lot of those building blocks have graduated or left via the portal. And that leaves so many questions for 2025.

It also is a chance for Hammock to prove something he’s been talking about for years. The sixth-year head coach is proud of the program’s culture, the next-man-up mentality and the depth he and his staff have been able to accrue. After all, just look at the season Telly Johnson Jr. had at running back after Antario Brown was lost for the season.

And Hammock said there are even better running backs waiting their turn, and the depth chart is that way at every position.

So 2025 will put that statement to the test. A down year is going to raise a lot of questions.

But a solid season could result in Hammock getting dumped in crackers or cereal or mayonnaise or even potatoes again, giving the French fry dump a run for its money.