New Western Illinois head coach Joe Davis will lead the Leathernecks into their season opener at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in DeKalb. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
MACOMB – Over the span of 21 seasons, Joe Davis has coached college football at eight different schools in five states, molding quarterbacks and offenses along the way.
Saturday in DeKalb, he will walk onto the Huskie Stadium turf at Northern Illinois University for a new school and with a first-time title: Head coach.
“Very humbling,” Davis said of his emotions as his first game at Western Illinois approaches. “Very thankful and appreciative. That feeling of gratitude stems back to a lot of people that built into my life.
“A lot of the head coaches in my life that believed in me. Coaches that when I was a young player really believed in me.”
Those coaches have helped shape Davis’ approach at Western, a program that is in the midst of a school-record 24-game losing streak and back-to-back 0-11 seasons.
Around the WIU facilities, three words are prevalent – Encourage, Challenge, Inspire.
“We want the players to come into an environment of encouragement and positivity,” he said. “We can’t control what happened here in the past, but we want them to come in and remember why they started playing football, and that’s because it was fun. We’re out here playing a game with our friends and it’s really fun.
“The coaching staff has kept that at the core.”
The positive vibes from 65 new players and nine new coaches has been a major point of emphasis this off-season. But the reality also is obvious.
“At some point, we’re going to have to win some games to keep that momentum going,” Davis said.
Since he was hired in January, Davis reached back into his past, gathering lessons and seeking insights from head coaches such as Mike Swider, who guided Wheaton College to a 209-52 record – along with nine conference titles – from 1996-2009.
“He’s arguably the greatest head coach I’ve ever worked for,” Davis said. “He’s a guy I consistently lean on and talk to. He’s a great mentor and friend.”
Paul Winters, the head coach at Wayne State in Detroit from 2004-2022, took a team to an NCAA Division II national title game in 2011. Along the way, he made a major impact on Davis.
“The first head coach I ever worked for was Paul Winters,” he said. “He’s come down and spent some time with us at Western as a consultant during spring practices.”
While working on fine-tuning the roster and the offensive and defensive units this off-season, the team’s losing streak has not come up.
“I haven’t mentioned it one time,” Davis said. “We’re moving on. It’s a new era. We’ve got big energy here.”
That energy, along with loftier expectations, have become clear to the players.
“We’re competing every day. I’m confident in all of us,” said junior defensive end D.J. Taylor, a transfer from D-II Lenoir-Rhyne. “We remind each other that if we don’t have that championship standard, we can go 0-11 again. Everybody has been focused. If we all do our job, there’s no way we go 0-11.”
This week’s opponent
Like Western, the Huskies are breaking in a new quarterback. NIU will start either sophomore Jalen Macon, a transfer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff or junior returnee Ethan Hampton, an Aurora Christian High School grad. Macon played in six games last season at UAPB, completing 66% of his passes and throwing three touchdowns. Hampton played in four games in 2023 as the primary backup, tossing two TDs and completing 58% of his passes. … NIU, which is coming off of a 7-6 season in 2023 and a victory in the Camelia Bowl, has plenty of experience on defense. The unit returns nine starters, including seven that started all 13 games. “With veteran defenses, you have to beat them,” Davis said. “They’re not going to give up a bunch of cheap plays. They’re not going to miss tackles. You have to be consistent in your execution.” … In Thomas Hammock’s six seasons as head coach, the Huskies have now opened the season against all four Illinois FCS schools, hosting Illinois State in 2019, Eastern Illinois in 2022 and Southern Illinois in 2023. … The last meeting between WIU and Northern was a 28-23 Leathernecks victory in 2016. … According to published reports, Western will receive a $350,000 payout for Saturday’s game against NIU.
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m..; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: Q981fm.com (https://q981fm.com/)
Key matchup to watch
Northern Illinois ground game vs. WIU front seven: The Huskies long have been known as a power running team. This season will be no different. NIU returns All-Mid-American Conference first-team running back Antario Brown, who rushed for 1,296 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall. Brown ranks 13th all-time in rushing yards at NIU and needs only 394 yards to break into the Top 10 in school history. Defending the run, meanwhile, has been a sore spot for the Leathernecks, who gave up 39 rushing touchdowns a year ago and 238.8 yards a game. “They’re going to try to (run the ball) in a variety of ways with a lot of big personnel, a lot of tight ends, a lot of extra offensive linemen,” Davis said of NIU.
What’s at stake?
Western Illinois is aiming for its first season-opening victory since a 41-14 triumph at Tennessee Tech on Aug. 31, 2017.
Quick hits
Nathan Lamb will take the reins as Western’s quarterback Saturday. He began his career at FBS Fresno State before throwing for 40 touchdowns in three seasons at College of Sequoias, a California junior college. Last season, he was WIU’s backup. Davis said during spring practice that Lamb picked up the offense as quickly as any quarterback he has coached. “We’re really excited about Nate,” Davis said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he can make every throw in the book. He runs well. He’s just got to play some games.”. … As a whole, the offense has had good days and bad days, according to WIU’s new coach. “There were spurts in the spring,” Davis said. “There were spurts this fall where we look pretty sharp. Then there are other times when we know we have a lot of work to do. We’re trying to form an offensive identity.” … While there are new faces galore at the skill positions, the offensive line features several holdovers who got experience last season. According to WIU’s depth chart, returnees Jeremiah Banks-Wall (left tackle), Dagen Miller (left guard), Joey Treccia (center) and Ryan Merklinger (right tackle) will start Saturday along with East Carolina transfer Isaiah Foote (right guard). “These kids have played a lot of football and now they’re entering a time when they should be playing their best football,” Davis said. … On the defensive front, returnees Tre Henry and Brian Bruce will start at tackle while transfers D.J. Taylor and Tommy Brunner (Wisconsin) will start at end. “We really feel that going into Week 1, we’re going to have a nice eight-man rotation on the defensive line.” …. The roster changes on both lines and elsewhere are encouraging, according to Davis. “To see the improvement in talent is really exciting,” he said. “I’m happiest with the transfers we took. They’ve certainly improved our team a lot. And I’m very pleased with the freshman class.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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