Thomas Hammock concerned Northern Illinois players will be poached due to national spotlight

Upset victories are one of the most special parts of college football. Which Northern Illinois pulled off last weekend in a major way on the road when they defeated No. 5 ranked Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium in a dramatic 16-14 win.

But one of the new unfortunate parts of college football is the side effect of the transfer portal and NIL, poaching. Where the best players at the Group of Five level are recruited by Power Four programs while they’re still members of another team.

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Performing at a high level versus the top competition in college football used to serve as an excellent proving ground for Group of Five players with aspirations to play in the NFL. But now it draws more attention from other programs hoping to add players to their roster through the transfer portal. As NIU head coach Thomas Hammock opened up about the realities of poaching following his win over the Fighting Irish on The Triple Option.

“All the time,” Hammock said when asked if he worries about poaching. “December, I had a bunch of guys come to my office and had different opportunities to explore. We wind up losing a couple, we lost one to Florida and we lost one to Louisville, but two didn’t become 12. But the thing that’s hard nowadays is there’s so many extra coaches on the sidelines. So you got guys looking at your roster.”

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Hammock continued to open up on poaching that was occurring with his program even before his team upset the Fighting Irish over the weekend. Bringing an instance to light that happened just one week before they secured a signature win for the Huskies’ program.

“We played Western Illinois the first week of the season and then they played Indiana, and I got a coach from Indiana asking me about a couple guys on my team. And I’m thinking to myself, those questions are almost like the NFL personnel department, how did you get this kid? So that makes you feel very uncomfortable from that standpoint,” Hammock said.

Several college head coaches at every level have complained about the poaching that now exists in the sport. Calling for the NCAA to take action as players from their roster are offered scholarships and lucrative NIL deals to jump ship and join another program.

But for smaller programs like NIU, Hammock and other head coaches are faced with even greater challenges regarding roster retention as a result of their resources.

“But you just try to build as best relationships as possible with the kids and the families,” Hammock said. “My thing now is take care of the families of our players that we think can have a chance to do some different things. So that’s all you can do, hope for the best. Show them you love them as much as possible, and hopefully that still matters to the people in your program.”

Northern Illinois receives $1.4 million for facing off against the Fighting Irish and earned themselves a No. 25 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll. Ranked for the first time in 11 seasons with an opportunity to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff.

But unprecedented success will not keep NIU players from getting recruited by bigger programs, as Hammock and many others will continue to hope that the NCAA eventually addresses poaching in the modern version of college football.