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Teams / Mountain West / Northern Illinois
Index · this season
41
▼ Below its 5-year level -12▼ Down 3 this season
Career53since 1936
Peak712010
Last 553seasons
#134 nationally · 0-5 (0-1 conf)
Résumé #136
Schedule so far #45
Margin ±5 pts (tightens with games)
Why 41? →

Northern Illinois Huskies

Mountain West · DeKalb, IL · Huskie Stadium · Head coach Rob Harley
Rival
Established rivalry
23-27 all time (50 meetings since 1969)
Western Michigan leads
Last: lost 35-19 (2025)
Wants it back
program traits are earned from history
No recognized national titles since 1936. Counted: AP poll champion, a coaches-poll champion, or the BCS / playoff title-game winner; a split year counts for both.0national titles
Heisman Trophy winners0Heisman
Seasons finishing in the AP top 10 since 19360AP top-10
Consensus All-Americans since 19362All-Americans
NFL draft picks since 196724NFL picks
Winning percentage since 193646.4%win pct
History since 1936 · football since 1969. Every season →
Chemistry
Chem 48: new staff, still building48
Chem 51: typical
51Foundation
Chem 45: warning zone
45Gel
gel counts 40% so far
▼ Below its norm -4Trending down
early · #109 of 138
HC year1
Ret. starters18%
QB yrs w/ OC1
View chemistry →
Team chemistryearly · #109 of 138 FBS teams
Chem 51: typicalFoundation51+Chem 45: warning zoneGel45=Chem 48: warning zoneChem48Gel counts 40% so far (it grows as games are played, up to half)
Foundationwhat the program has built · moves over seasons
Foundation51Staff stability — Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnoverStaff stability80Roster continuity — Returning starters and the lineup's experienceRoster continuity26Unit cohesion — QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played togetherUnit cohesion43Administration — Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignmentAdministration99Investment — Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruitingInvestment71Fan base — How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matterFan base32
ContinuityClimate
Continuity · who has played and coached togetherlive

Who has played and coached together, and for how long, ranked against every FBS team at the same point of the season.

▸Staff stability
Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnover
80
Staff cohesion—
Assistant turnover80
17% of on-field staff new this season (FBS average about 45%)
▸Roster continuity
Returning starters and the lineup's experience
26
Returning core37
18% of last season's starters · FBS median 32%
Experience14
6 career starts per starter · FBS median 12
▸Unit cohesion
QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played together
43
QB & coordinator55
1st season together · same as 76% of FBS teams
QB & receivers47
2.8 games started together on average · FBS median 3.9
Line cohesion32
3.1 games per linemen pair · FBS median 5.2
Defensive cohesion28
3.2 games per defensive pair · FBS median 4.5
Climate · around the programlive

The administration, money and fans around the team: athletic director continuity, willingness to invest, and crowds.

▸Administration
Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignment
99
AD continuity99
Sean Frazier · year 11 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
▸Investment
Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruiting
71
Football's share86
38% of department spending goes to football
Investment trend85
+74% over three years
Football investment47
$13.2M on football (2024-25 federal report)
Recruiting spend25
$0.38M men's recruiting
Department resources29
$34M athletic department revenue
▸Fan base
How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matter
32
Sellouts30
sellout crowds (95%+ of capacity) at 0 of 39 home games (last 8 seasons)
Sells out anyway34
sellout crowds at 0 of 29 games that didn't matter: cupcakes, or a team expected to lose or having a losing season

Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures, as reported by each school. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Attendance: reported crowds vs stadium capacity.

Gelhow it is working right now · moves week to week
Gel45Playing above its parts — Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by gamePlaying above its parts45Settled & sharp — A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normalSettled & sharp46Alignment — Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one pageAlignmentsoonResilience — Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversityResiliencesoonFan & media mood — Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins laterFan & media mood41Coach security — The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new ADCoach security47
InternalOn-field fitExternal
Internal · how the program talkscoming

How the team talks in press conferences and interviews, each program against its own normal, so a naturally terse coach isn't read as upset. Being built program by program, Big Ten first.

▸Alignment
Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one page
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.
▸Resilience
Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversity
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.

Readings are team-level; we don't publish psychological readings of individual players.

On-field fit · how it is playing togetherlive

How the team is playing together this season: beating or missing its preseason expectation, a settled lineup, clean execution.

▸Playing above its parts
Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by game
45
This season45
-4.2 points a game vs its preseason projection (4 games)
▸Settled & sharp
A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normal
46
This season46
80% of starters kept game to game
External · pressure from outsidelive

Pressure from outside the building: the hard-facts hot seat now; this season's fan and media mood as it is measured.

▸Fan & media mood
Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins later
41
This season41
outside the AP poll: projected #129 preseason -> #134 in our Index now · results 0-5 (-13, recent games count more)
▸Coach security
The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new AD
47
This season47
Rob Harley, year 1 · 0% wins so far · -4.2 pts a game vs preseason expectation

Dashed gold ring = typical (62). 20-50 is the warning zone; under 10 is a collapse. Spokes with no data yet are dashed and left out until they fill in. Chem blends the two halves, then places the blend among this season's teams.

Trend · Foundationeach program year runs Feb 1 to the title game
'1661'1762'1859'1918'2055'2154'2253'2363'2469'2526'262016 wk 1 vs Wyoming: 47 · L2016 wk 2 vs South Florida: 63 · L2016 wk 3 vs San Diego State: 56 · L2016 wk 4 vs Western Illinois: 52 · L2016 wk 5 vs Ball State: 56 · W2016 wk 6 vs Western Michigan: 49 · L2016 wk 7 vs Central Michigan: 53 · L2016 wk 8 vs Buffalo: 56 · W2016 wk 10 vs Bowling Green: 59 · W2016 wk 11 vs Toledo: 61 · L2016 wk 12 vs Eastern Michigan: 58 · W2016 wk 13 vs Kent State: 61 · W2017 wk 2 vs Eastern Illinois: 60 · W2017 wk 3 vs Nebraska: 57 · W2017 wk 5 vs San Diego State: 61 · L2017 wk 6 vs Kent State: 62 · W2017 wk 7 vs Buffalo: 59 · W2017 wk 8 vs Bowling Green: 63 · W2017 wk 9 vs Eastern Michigan: 62 · W2017 wk 10 vs Toledo: 63 · L2017 wk 11 vs Ball State: 64 · W2017 wk 12 vs Western Michigan: 64 · W2017 wk 13 vs Central Michigan: 64 · L2017 wk 1 vs Duke: 62 · L2018 wk 2 vs Utah: 65 · L2018 wk 3 vs Central Michigan: 65 · W2018 wk 4 vs Florida State: 67 · L2018 wk 5 vs Eastern Michigan: 63 · W2018 wk 6 vs Ball State: 61 · W2018 wk 7 vs Ohio: 64 · W2018 wk 9 vs BYU: 61 · W2018 wk 10 vs Akron: 61 · W2018 wk 11 vs Toledo: 65 · W2018 wk 12 vs Miami (OH): 64 · L2018 wk 13 vs Western Michigan: 65 · L2018 wk 14 vs Buffalo: 62 · W2018 wk 1 vs UAB: 59 · L2019 wk 2 vs Utah: 28 · L2019 wk 3 vs Nebraska: 29 · L2019 wk 5 vs Vanderbilt: 25 · L2019 wk 6 vs Ball State: 28 · L2019 wk 7 vs Ohio: 30 · W2019 wk 8 vs Miami (OH): 29 · L2019 wk 9 vs Akron: 28 · W2019 wk 10 vs Central Michigan: 19 · L2019 wk 12 vs Toledo: 17 · W2019 wk 13 vs Eastern Michigan: 30 · L2019 wk 14 vs Western Michigan: 18 · W2020 wk 11 vs Central Michigan: 55 · L2020 wk 12 vs Ball State: 55 · L2020 wk 13 vs Western Michigan: 57 · L2020 wk 14 vs Toledo: 53 · L2020 wk 15 vs Eastern Michigan: 55 · L2021 wk 2 vs Wyoming: 59 · L2021 wk 3 vs Michigan: 57 · L2021 wk 4 vs Maine: 57 · W2021 wk 5 vs Eastern Michigan: 58 · W2021 wk 6 vs Toledo: 56 · W2021 wk 7 vs Bowling Green: 58 · W2021 wk 8 vs Central Michigan: 59 · W2021 wk 10 vs Kent State: 56 · L2021 wk 11 vs Ball State: 57 · W2021 wk 12 vs Buffalo: 57 · W2021 wk 13 vs Western Michigan: 58 · L2021 wk 14 vs Kent State: 54 · W2021 wk 1 vs Coastal Carolina: 54 · L2022 wk 2 vs Tulsa: 66 · L2022 wk 3 vs Vanderbilt: 65 · L2022 wk 4 vs Kentucky: 65 · L2022 wk 5 vs Ball State: 58 · L2022 wk 6 vs Toledo: 56 · L2022 wk 7 vs Eastern Michigan: 57 · W2022 wk 8 vs Ohio: 57 · L2022 wk 10 vs Central Michigan: 57 · L2022 wk 11 vs Western Michigan: 57 · W2022 wk 12 vs Miami (OH): 56 · L2022 wk 13 vs Akron: 53 · L2023 wk 2 vs Southern Illinois: 65 · L2023 wk 3 vs Nebraska: 67 · L2023 wk 4 vs Tulsa: 64 · L2023 wk 5 vs Toledo: 65 · L2023 wk 6 vs Akron: 66 · W2023 wk 7 vs Ohio: 64 · W2023 wk 8 vs Eastern Michigan: 66 · W2023 wk 10 vs Central Michigan: 65 · L2023 wk 11 vs Ball State: 66 · L2023 wk 12 vs Western Michigan: 65 · W2023 wk 13 vs Kent State: 66 · W2023 wk 1 vs Arkansas State: 63 · W2024 wk 2 vs Notre Dame: 67 · W2024 wk 4 vs Buffalo: 67 · L2024 wk 5 vs NC State: 68 · L2024 wk 6 vs Massachusetts: 68 · W2024 wk 7 vs Bowling Green: 69 · W2024 wk 8 vs Toledo: 68 · L2024 wk 9 vs Ball State: 66 · L2024 wk 11 vs Western Michigan: 68 · W2024 wk 12 vs Akron: 70 · W2024 wk 13 vs Miami (OH): 68 · L2024 wk 14 vs Central Michigan: 67 · W2024 wk 1 vs Fresno State: 69 · W2025 wk 2 vs Maryland: 41 · L2025 wk 4 vs Mississippi State: 41 · L2025 wk 5 vs San Diego State: 40 · L2025 wk 6 vs Miami (OH): 41 · L2025 wk 7 vs Eastern Michigan: 28 · L2025 wk 8 vs Ohio: 30 · L2025 wk 9 vs Ball State: 41 · W2025 wk 11 vs Toledo: 40 · L2025 wk 12 vs Massachusetts: 41 · W2025 wk 13 vs Western Michigan: 25 · L2025 wk 14 vs Kent State: 26 · L2026 wk 2 vs Illinois State: 54 · L2026 wk 3 vs Arizona: 56 · L2026 wk 4 vs Georgia State: 43 · L2026 wk 6 vs Air Force: 43 · L2026 wk 7 vs Wyoming: 51 · next gametypical 62

Every game since 2016, one continuous line; thin rules separate seasons and the chip is where each season finished. Navy dot = win, red = loss. Big drops usually mean a new staff, a new quarterback or a rebuilt line.

Trend · Gelthis season, after each game
typical 62wk 1 · on-field 37 · fan mood 48411wk 2 vs Illinois State · L · on-field 47 · fan mood 41452wk 3 vs Arizona · L · on-field 49 · fan mood 43473wk 4 vs Georgia State · L · on-field 42 · fan mood 47444wk 6 vs Air Force · L · on-field 46 · fan mood 42446

How the team is working right now, rebuilt after each game from only the games so far: on-field fit (results vs preseason expectation, lineup settling, execution) and that week's fan & media mood. Coach security is part of today's Gel number but isn't rebuilt week by week yet. Navy frame = win, red = loss.

Continuity facts
Head coach
Year 1
new this season
Offensive coordinator
Year 2
at this school
Defensive coordinator
Year —
at this school
HC & OC together
1 seasons
working together
QB with his OC
1 seasons
same play-caller
QB & receivers
2.8 games
started together, average
Offensive line pairs
3.1 games
started together, average
Returning starters
18%
from last season
Starter experience
6 starts
career average
Internal facts
Pressers read
soon
this season, coaches and players
Coach tone
soon
vs his own normal
"We" vs "I"
soon
share of team language
Owning mistakes
soon
vs pointing outward
Same story
soon
coaches and players agree
After losses
soon
how fast tone recovers
Leaders named
soon
players teammates point to
Newcomers
soon
transfers talked about as part of it
Openness
soon
forthcoming vs guarded
Measured from press conferences and interviews, program by program.
Climate facts
Athletic director
Sean Frazier
year 11
Football spending
$13.2M
2024-25 federal report
Spending trend
+74%
over three years
Department revenue
$34M
all sports
Recruiting spend
$0.38M
men's teams
Home crowds
—
of capacity
Staff turnover
17%
on-field staff new this season
Fan mood
soon
fans and local media
Coach & AD
soon
on the same page
Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Offense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Dickens
Porter
Thompson
Dimopoulos
Bryant
Rogers
Hron
Liegel
Chambers
Mead
Trask
QBTaron Dickens31323333222
RBElijah Porter12111221111
WRCam Thompson311244333222
WRGeorge Dimopoulos214104574323
WRLa'Don Bryant314410997423
WRDeAree Rogers32359151510423
OLLandon Hron32379151710423
OLRoss Liegel31347101010322
OLTyler Chambers21234443412
OLTy Mead21222222122
OLChevy Trask21233332223

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Defense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Sneed
Washington
Canion
King
Murray
Kerperin
Armstrong
Jones
Reynolds
Lindo
Conyers
DLKole Sneed55515255155
DLAmari Washington55515255155
DLMontrel Canion55515255155
DLJT King11111111111
LBJack Murray55515255155
LBBrady Kerperin22212222122
DBMalik Armstrong55515255155
DBAvery Jones55515255155
DBDev'ion Reynolds11111111511
DBLiam Lindo55515255155
DBKyon Conyers55515255155

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Chemistry is Scorebook's own rating of how well a program fits together, on the same all-time 0-99 scale as our other ratings (compared with every FBS team since 2016; 62 is typical, 20-50 signals something is wrong, and single digits are reserved for true collapses; each season is compared with its own era). This early version blends continuity (who has played and coached together, and for how long; it counts most) with the climate around the program; how the program talks joins as it is measured. Within continuity, quarterback-centered pairings count most because they held up when we tested them against results. How our ratings work →