Coach Thomas Hammock announced 24 high schoolers and two junior college transfers as NIU’s 2026 signing class on Thursday as part of the NCAA early signing period.

The group included six defensive linemen and four along the offensive line. There are also two quarterbacks.

The full list of signees is below. Here are five takeaways from the group as the Huskies look to rebound from a 3-9 year in their first year in the Mountain West.

‘Foundational’ offensive line group coming aboard

With the transfer portal still open for a few more weeks, the NIU roster can still change drastically. When asked if he expected more departures, coach Thomas Hammock said there’s so much fluidity he just takes it day by day.

Evan Malcore is the only Huskie offensive lineman gone through graduation or the portal. He was honored on senior day despite being a junior and declared for the portal.

Three of the four offensive linemen brought on board are at least 270 pounds. Hammock said he feels like the group is in great shape.

“Our offensive line class we were able to sign this year we feel like is going to be a foundation for a long time,” Hammock said.

Murray may be a plug-and-play solution for Urwiler

Even before Hammock joined the program before the 2019 season, Wisconsin was always fertile recruiting ground for the Huskies. But this year’s early class includes only signee from the north, Brookfield East linebacker Jack Murray.

With Quinn Urwiler graduating, the Huskies have a big hole at middle linebacker. Urwiler was third in the country in total tackles and a second-team Mid-American Conference selection. This season, Murray had 91 tackles, 20 for a loss.

Hammock said Murray is one of 17 freshmen coming early for spring practices.

“We’re going to give him every opportunity at MIKE linebacker from Day 1,” Hammock said. “He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s smart. He’ll be here in January. Obviously Quinn was a big part of what we did on defense this year but Jack comes in here and he’ll have a leg up on the competition.”

Two quarterbacks come on board, still looking for transfer

After Josh Holst entered the portal earlier this week, NIU had only Brady Davidson and Jalen Macon on the roster. They doubled that with Bryshawn Brown and Asa Johnson.

Brown helped his team reach the quarterfinals of the postseason and a 9-3 record. He threw for 2,431 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for 10. He threw three interceptions. Johnson was also a dual-threat QB at Aurora Christian. He threw for 2,597 yards and 32 touchdowns while running for 717 and 14 touchdowns.

Brown is enrolling early. Hammock said before the start of spring practices, he hopes to add someone through the portal.

“We would potentially add one more guy to compete,” Hammock said. “Bryshawn will be here in the spring along with Brady and Jalen and hopefully we can add one more guy to have four guys to compete.”

Only two running backs added

Hammock, a former running back at NIU and running backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens, has had little problem in his career finding productive backs.

Even with a lot of offensive players in the portal, no running backs have declared yet. The only loss was senior Chavon Wright, who played one year with the Huskies after transferring from Charleston.

Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 4A All-State First-Team selection Jaidaun Cranford from Metamora and another Georgia product, Da’sean Howard, will join the current NIU RB room.

“We have really good running backs in our program,” Hammock said. “I’m very confident in the backs in our program. We have very capable backs that can be 1,000-yard backs and at this point we’re not looking to add another back in the foreseeable future.”

D-line needed a reload and got it

Seven defensive linemen graduated, and Hammock announced six new ones coming in. Most of them are coming in January and could be early impact players.

Darrius Summers III highlights the list, a soon-to-be graduate of Cass Tech, the same Detroit school that produced NIU legend James Ester. Cass Tech won a state title last year and was runner-up this year.

“For us, how could we creatively add defensive linemen?” Hammock said. “Our plan was to add young mid-year freshmen, then add some transfers to create the type of depth you need to plug some holes.”