Ean Hamric saw the success former teammate Chavon Wright had last year.

He saw former head coach Quinn Sanders still on board as the quarterbacks coach.

And he saw a quarterback room he could get along with.

The 6-foot-1 redshirt senior quarterback chose NIU after spending 2022-2025 at the University of Charleston. He’s spent this spring trying to fight his way into the starting QB conversation alongside returners Brady Davidson and Jalen Macon.

“Ever since I got here it’s been nothing but an overwhelming sense of welcomeness, being the new guy and all that,” Hamric said. “This team, we’ve really come together. It’s felt like I’ve been here all four years. Coming from Charleston, where I was for four years, it was pretty similar to how it is here.”

Sanders, the offensive coordinator last year, is still on staff as quarterbacks coach as Tony Petersen takes over the OC job under interim head coach Rob Harley. After seven-year head coach Thomas Hammock left in February to take the running backs coaching position with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Harley was elevated from defensive coordinator.

[ Photos: Northern Illinois University football continues spring practices ]

Hamric played 26 games in his four years at Charleston, including 10 in Sanders’ final year. He completed 68% of his passes and threw for 1,729 yards and 15 touchdowns with two interceptions. He also ran for 472 yards and seven touchdowns. For his career, he’s rushed for 1,023 yards and thrown for 2,999. He has 31 passing touchdowns, 13 rushing touchdowns, and five interceptions.

Hamric transferred in January before Hammock left. He said he talked with both Sanders and Wright, who like Hamric entered the portal with one year of eligibility left. Wright led the Huskies in rushing with 875 yards and tied for the team lead with five rushing touchdowns.

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“Talking with Von and coach Sanders as soon as I got into the portal, I knew this is a place I would want to end up,” Hamric said. “Luckily coach Sanders called me and everything happened. I got here in January and I’ve loved it ever since.”

The Huskies are looking to turn around one of the worst offenses in the country last year as they enter the Mountain West Conference. They scored 17.1 points per game last year, 127th in FBS out of 134 teams as they finished 3-9.

They averaged 98.8 passing yards per game, 132nd nationally.

Petersen was the offensive coordinator at Illinois State last year, helping the Redbirds reach the national championship game. He’s also been the OC at Illinois, East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Marshall and Minnesota.

He said the Huskies are going to get more vertical this year, something that should be on display Saturday at the team’s spring showcase. This year’s showcase will resemble a game more than in recent years, with a timed clock for the first time since before Hammock took over.

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“He’s a guy you can tell has played some college football,” Petersen said. “He takes that expertise out there and does a good job with it. He’s got to continue to make good decisions.”

Harley said there have been good decisions and bad decisions on display with Hamric throughout the spring. At a practice earlier this spring, he threw a touchdown and an interception in close succession.

Harley said both plays were examples of Hamric’s aggressive mentality.

“He had a poor decision, but he also threw a touchdown,” Harley said. “He said, ‘Oh, I wish I didn’t throw that pick.’ Yeah, but you may throw a touchdown too. I think his athleticism and his moxie bring something. We feel really good about what he might be able to do.”

Petersen said Davidson and Macon are much more in the mold of traditional quarterbacks. Both are listed at 6-foot-5. Macon has a little more leg talent than Davidson has, Petersen said. But with any of the quarterbacks, he said, it comes down to decision-making.

Hamric said the team doesn’t talk much about last year. The focus is on Sept. 5 when the season starts at Iowa.

“We definitely talk about last year some, but we don’t worry about it too much,” Hamric said. “We’re focused on this upcoming year. I wasn’t here last year so I can’t really speak on it. But so far we’ve been rolling pretty good.”