On the heels of a Mid-American Conference Championship season, Northern Illinois University head football coach Rod Carey has earned a performance-based, one-year extension to his existing contract, NIU Associate Vice-President Sean T. Frazier announced Thursday.
The extension keeps one of the winningest coaches in NIU and Mid-American Conference history in DeKalb through June 2023. He earned the additional year when the Huskies earned a spot in the 2018 Marathon MAC Championship game, which NIU won with a 30-29 victory over Buffalo.
“I would like to congratulate Coach Carey, the NIU football staff, and the entire NIU football program on a championship season.” Frazier said. “We are excited that Coach Carey has accepted the additional year to remain at NIU and continue to build on our football championship successes. Our football program, has embraced The Hard Way mentality, and our student-athletes do things the right way – compete to win championships, graduate student-athletes and serve the community. This is, in large part, due to Coach Carey’s leadership and vision for the football program.”
Carey has led NIU to two MAC Championships as head coach and has been a part of four of the Huskies’ five titles all-time. In his six seasons at the helm of the program, NIU has played in four MAC Championship games.
His 52 wins are second only to Joe Novak in NIU’s history as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution and he ranks 18th all-time in victories by a MAC coach. In taking five of his six NIU teams to bowl appearances, including beginning his head coaching career in the 2013 Orange Bowl, he has led NIU in six of the Huskies’ 13 bowl games as a major college program.