2024 NIU Fall Sports Media Day with football head coach Thomas Hammock

how we doing good good I appreciate that you know I like I tell my players you know I'm I'm good with feedback you know it's like a comedian the more people laugh the the better my jokes are so um I appreciate that no uh first of all um you know for you guys that were able to come to to see practice I think this was the first time in my 22 years where you know uh we were ready to bring up practice and those guys ask for more um and you you you look at that and that's a small thing to most people um but that just goes to show uh the level of maturity we have in the program you know when you have a a group of guys that that that's put a lot of uh Blood Sweat and Tears into uh everything that's happening and they are fully invested they they don't want they don't want to practice the end and I think as a coach uh that's what you look for um I talked to the guys uh at the beginning of a training camp and I told him about a Chinese bamboo so a Chinese bamboo takes you know 5 years before it breaks the surface right but you have to water it you have to nuture it you have to um take care of it daily and I think that's where we're at in our program this is our sixth year uh this is our best football team uh that we've had uh in in every aspect of the word and I I mean that from a uh a developmental standpoint a physical standpoint a mental stand standpoint a spiritual standpoint all those things we've helped uh these young men grow and develop in our program and it's awesome to see you know I love these guys uh this is the first time I feel like all 120 guys on the team is is is is is a part of our program and doing it and pulling in the right direction uh very little drag uh as far as I see it you know a couple things uh that we talked about you know we spent a lot of time with the schedule uh building a schedule that's conducive to allowing these guys to develop and and and play their their best performance and so uh this morning we practice in the morning tomorrow we practice at night and that gives them you know 28 hours to get their bodies and Minds uh recuperated spent a lot of time with the nutritionist uh Melissa who does an awesome job uh spend a lot of time with juny and his staff being able to maximize uh our team and I think that you know that's one area that I I think we've increased um being able to feed them more the nutrition different things to help them be able to develop and I think that becomes our Edge uh when guys you know we used to have guys lose eight PBS and come back the next day and and be four pounds still underweight that affects your performance now if a guy loses six PBS he comes back tomorrow he's he he's heavier than what he was um the day before and I think all that planning and how guys are taking care of themselves are are extremely uh critical for us to be the type of team we want to be as I look at the season obviously we are in a six week progression the way I look at it we got you know four weeks of Camp then we have two games and then a by we so you know we have a chance to really assess uh different things worry out what we need to improve upon what are the things that we need to do uh from a a complete team standpoint uh to be better um as you look at we we are six practices in uh it's been very competitive um a lot of energy a lot of urgency uh very very physical uh on both sides of the ball and on special teams and and what you start to see is we've had a lot of guys uh improve uh as we as we go we spent about two hours as a staff last night talking about personnel and we are a lot deeper team than I even anticipated uh in the summertime um you know we got guys at different positions that can play multiple positions that can do more things for our football team you know I counted last night we got 85 guys uh that that can travel um and so really if you can travel 70 guys for m games that's 15 guys that still have the ability to play for us it's been years in the past we've had 60 guys uh and try to find 10 more guys so you we are not lacking for depth uh we're not lacking for experience uh we got to continue to grow keep them healthy and then be able to go play um as far as practice what you see and what we talk about is understand what it takes to win the drill uh and I talk talked to our team the other day I told him about a Garf experience I had with my brother and you know my brother he's 10 years younger than me he he really wants to beat me bad uh but if you focus on the person you lose track of the main goal and so you know one thing I talk to our team about is focusing on the course right and the course for us is every opponent that we play but the person becomes the opposite side of the ball so we are not look looking at hey can I beat the defense today or can I beat the offense today what do we need to do as a collective football team to put oursel in a position to win the game we have tremendous leadership um that's one thing that I think is really going to separate us this year we understand adversity is going to come in some form or fashion but the leadership that we have gives me great confidence that we can handle whatever comes our way uh and be able to persevere as we continue to go I know a lot of people want to ask a question about the quarterback that is not my concern at this point based on what I'm seeing we have a complete football team we're going to play that way uh and I think this this will be we have an opportunity to have a great season so any questions easy I appreciate it oh a Mike oh okay wait for the the mic to come this way but when you um when you have a more experienced team like this one of the most experienced you know in the country do how much does that change your expectations if any whether it's on practice or on game day how much does that change your expectations as coach well I think you know when you have an experienced team you know you're fighting for standards uh and to me every every day we have a team meeting I have about 15 plays I show from practice and it it it really uh shows them did you meet the standard I don't care what you think how you think you play did you meet the standard did you hold yourself to accountable to your teammates is that the way we're going to play and and so every day they understand a lot of days has been positive some days it's been negative um but you have to be able to continuously show them what it takes day in and day out we're not looking for uh the games we're looking for what it takes each and every single day so we can maximize the day and be the best team we can be last year you know was very up and down for you guys you know start off with Boneyard win four losses four wins two losses what could you guys do if anything and I guess the leadership you talked on probably factors into this but how do you like preach consistency and how do you get that message hammered home to you know get things more consistent no we show them so you know we had a meeting about you know uh every game our back is against the wall don't don't wait for something bad to happen to be able to push forward uh we have to have that same mentality so uh I think it's an interesting stat and I I talked to our team about it 70% of m games the team that scores first wins the game um but I can do you one better we played 13 games last year the team that scored first first in every single game we played last year won the game so when we talk about no matter if we have the ball or we playing defense that is the most important situation of the game and then we'll figure out the next three or four quarters you know so we we are trying constantly trying to put them in that mindset of you know understanding the urgency of every single play right if you knew the first team that scored in every game we played one I will make sure whether we're kicking it or deferring it uh I'm I'm be ready to play from that that opening snap because that can determine the game The Experience you have what's the most stressful situation you're trying to put them in in each practice to to get that that next level well the most stressful thing for me is to keep them healthy the most stressful thing to them is to put them in situational football so today we did second down play Third we did third down play play fourth so we have to constantly put them in situations where they understand down in distance is important what is the opposition trying to do okay you know defense right A lot of times it get to fourth down they put their hand up like they going to special teams well teams are being a lot more aggressive in situational football uh and going for it so now you have to say on on third and four this could be a potential run right knowing that hey they got two downs to get it so we trying to put them in as many situations as possible we use a lot of examp examples from previous years of things that happen in game uh from a situational standpoint and how can we move forward that way like we the other day we did uh the Georgia Tech situation so we had the ball at the plus 25 uh in Georgia Tech with two minutes left we had one timeout you know in the ideal situation you score with no time remaining right but you have to play the situation to see what happens coach did you feel you mentioned the 13 games was that just an unusual ual season though did you go back to other Seasons yeah you know statistically it is unusual right like I said 70% if you score first you have a chance to win the game and that's what analytics does analytics is based on history right obviously that was an anomaly in my opinion uh but I I want our players to understand that can happen again so you know we need to be ready for whatever situation presents itself coach you talked about the uh experience and what you've been able to do this year compared to last year just where do you feel at where do you feel your confidence levels at at this point compared to maybe at this point last year with that added experience yeah I mean we're we're we're good um uh now we have to go play uh but I just like okay I know everybody wants to talk about antario brown antario brown he had 1300 yards last year great great job he is a much better player right now than he's ever been in our program so to me when you look at confidence and and how guys have grown and develop is he back there oh he is back there I didn't even know you was back there but you are a much better player than you were last season right and and I think he understands that the tape shows that the way he practices shows that so if he stays healthy and he does the things consistently on a day-to-day basis I have great confidence uh there won't be many backs in the country better than them and uh you talked about the first six weeks and talking about the first two weeks is it something you want to build on do you talk about Notre Dame is that something you guys like to talk about or you more hey let's get through this week of Camp yeah no we're not talking about Notre Dame to be honest we'll talk about it when it comes up um but I want them to know West Illinois we need to be ready to play we are not hey we got to get oursel going and figuring it out no from the opening snap we need to be ready to play and play our best football for four quarters and that's what that's how we gear practice that's how we gear all all of our competition for that football game and then we'll figure out the next week when the next week comes but this is one thing I for a a big pitcher perspective we have two games in a b week so that gives us a chance to throw as much as we can throw at them and then assess okay what are the things that's going to help us the rest of the season um but we're going to take it one game at a time and we are not going to overlook Western Illinois uh we understand what happened to us last year at Southern Illinois and so we got to play our best football you mentioned the the practice uh today we been masing for more time but it seemed like that whole last 10 or 15 minutes energy was like way up for you know being two hours in the chanting the Seven Nation Army thing what's that say about this team that you know practic number six in early August and they're like that chanting rooting on their own side asking for more reps it's funny right these guys you talk about the seniors their first season was Co and So Co we talked about creating your own and so now they understand we want to win the practice or win the drill or win the win the situation whatever that looks like in order to do that you have to play with a level of urgency and a level of energy that's unmatched this is a hard foot football is a hard game right and it comes down to who wants it more well today you had offense and defense and they both wanted it right no matter if we two hours in or the first five minutes of practice and so we trying to constantly gear ourself toward what does it take how long how long long it takes doesn't matter uh we're going to outlast people and and play as as hard as we can play as long as we can play yeah I need to make one more so that because players have meetings and a little bit yeah I'm good yeah they need to get to meetings yeah yeah so are you okay yeah I mean go ahead ask your question real quick uh so from a coaching standpoint right now are you more concerned about coaching your team the mental aspect since the physical aspect seems to be so much returning that's an interesting question uh we do we do work on the mental daily um because like the energy you saw I practice we should come out to every game the same way so why would it be different so the mental part to me when you have guys that have a lot of experience that becomes the edge uh mentally uh how do you get yourself ready to go you may not feel 100% one particular day so play may not go your your your way you can't go the tank and so we are always planning for adversity and if we can handle adversity when it goes good uh my my wife call calls me the eternal optimist right I never look at anything negative um but when it goes if it goes bad okay I got to find my way out of it and so I'm proud of our team the way they responded last year we lost four games in a row you know you lose four games in a row a lot of teams you lose that becomes seven in a row but that's the type of men we have in our program that's the type of culture we have in our program and I couldn't be more proud to be the head football coach at NIU go Huskies