Cradle of Coaches

Joe Novak

  • Position Football
  • Custom1 2012
  • Custom2 Novak spent 40 years coaching football at the high school and collegiate levels. He served a combined 22 seasons as an assistant coach at Miami University, the University of Illinois (1977–79), Northern Illinois University (1980–83), and Indiana University (1984–95). In 1996, he was named head coach at Northern Illinois, where he led the Huskies for 12 seasons. Under his leadership, Northern Illinois captured four Mid-American Conference West Division titles (2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005) and made two bowl appearances. The Huskies won the Silicon Valley Bowl in 2004 and earned a berth in the Poinsettia Bowl in 2006.

Biography