LAS VEGAS — Liam Lindo was home with the flu when the news reached him: Thomas Hammock was leaving Northern Illinois. His teammates were shocked. They did not know who would coach them, and Lindo could not supply a name. He could give them one thing he was prepared to stand behind.
“We’re going to be good,” Lindo told The Scarlet Standard during an appearance on Rebel Daily Drive.
“Whatever it’s going to be, whoever we hire, we’ve got us. That’s all we need.”
Hammock resigned in February for the NFL after seven seasons, and NIU promoted defensive coordinator Rob Harley to interim head coach less than seven months before the opener at Iowa. The Huskies were already changing conferences. Now they were changing the person leading them there.
NIU officially joined the Mountain West on July 1, leaving the Mid-American Conference for football-only membership, longer trips and unfamiliar opponents. Lindo and offensive lineman Landon Hron want the habits inside the locker room to survive those changes.
Harley had spent the previous season coordinating NIU’s defense, so players knew the coach taking over. Lindo described him as the same person every day, bringing energy, demanding improvement and supporting players away from football.
“Coach Harley has been everything that we want in a coach,” Lindo said.
“He’s pushing us, encouraging us to get better, and he’s there for us truly. He’s there for us on and off the field.”
Hron is entering his fourth season at NIU with his third offensive line coach and second head coach. He has learned to adjust to a new voice while keeping the expectations of his position room intact.
Now he helps introduce newcomers to the way the Huskies practice, compete and respond when something goes wrong.
“You get to know new players right away, just hammering into them what our standards are and how we’re going to do things,” Hron said.
“That gets everybody tight right away.”
Hron knows how long it can take to become someone the team leans on. He redshirted in 2023, appeared in the final three games of 2024 and became a full-time starter last season. Ten of his 12 starts came at center, the other two at guard.
NIU averaged 187.1 rushing yards per game in 2025, third in the MAC, and allowed 1.58 sacks per game, also third in the league. Hron returns with experience in an offense that could run the ball and limit sacks while still needing more from the passing game.
Lindo understands the other side of that process. NIU is his fourth program in five years. He has experienced the discomfort that can come from choosing the wrong location, the challenge of joining an established locker room and the importance of feeling accepted before football begins to feel natural.
Since arriving in January, Lindo has sent reminders, communicated expectations and handled small responsibilities before coaches have to address them. He still believes the best player should win the job. His leadership is meant to help teammates prepare for that competition, not to reserve a spot for himself.
Lindo has had to introduce himself all over again at Erie Community College, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Bryant and now NIU. The cornerback intercepted five passes and broke up nine at Erie in 2023, added two interceptions at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, then had two more and eight pass breakups in 12 Bryant games last season. He kept producing while changing schools. He also kept learning what it feels like to be the new guy.
At Bryant, he returned an interception for a touchdown at Campbell and made four tackles in the upset of UMass. Now he is trying to help NIU’s younger players before he has played a game for the Huskies himself. That is the unusual part of his leadership: the newcomer has been through enough new locker rooms to recognize what somebody else might need from him.
“I’ve been through stuff,” Lindo said. “I went through those hardships. I’m trying to step up as an older guy and show the younger guys, or even the guys around my age, how it’s supposed to be done the right way.”
The Huskies have worked to build those relationships away from the facility. Many players live near one another and regularly gather at teammates’ homes to watch major sporting events or spend time together. Trey Porter and his brother cook meals and sell plates to teammates, giving players another reason to gather in the same place.
“You see guys from different areas and different cultures,” Lindo said.
“Just making them feel welcomed is a big thing.”
The first tests of that promise come at Iowa and, two weeks later, Arizona. Hron expects NIU’s physical play to hold up against those larger programs.
Hron does not discuss those matchups as games NIU scheduled merely for exposure or revenue. The Huskies refer to victories over prominent opponents as “Boneyard wins,” a tradition reinforced by their upset at Notre Dame in 2024.
“At NIU, we compete in those games,” Hron said.
“We can compete with those teams. Going to Iowa, we’re going to give them a good game, and the same thing with Arizona. Hopefully, we set the tone and come into the conference the right way.”
He also wants a less predictable offense. NIU’s commitment to the run will continue under Harley, but opponents crowded the line of scrimmage last season. A credible passing game could make them defend more of the field.
“We’ve always been a physical team,” Hron said.
“We run the ball, and we’re going to keep doing that. But we want to pass the ball a little bit too. Our run game could be way more dangerous if we pass the ball.”
That places additional importance on a quarterback competition that remains unsettled entering the fall. Brady Davidson and Jalen Macon gained experience last season, and NIU added more competition before training camp. Hron said the job should belong to the quarterback who learns the offense most completely and provides the greatest versatility.
Lindo sees the competition from the defensive side. He is less concerned with which quarterback wins than whether the process forces everyone to improve.
“Whoever is going to push me to get better and push the team to get better, that’s who I want to play on the field with us on Saturdays,” Lindo said.
“It’s going to be the best man wins type of thing.”
The spring game supplied a small example of the different ways that competition can move an offense. Macon’s late rushing touchdown decided a 17-10 game. Davidson converted a third-and-long pass to tight end Jason Fowler on a drive that ended with a touchdown throw to Tavaris Coles.
The quarterbacks also had to answer for three interceptions in that spring game. Amari Williams won a contested catch near midfield, Yassine Falke interrupted a fourth-quarter possession and Jack Murray’s interception put his offense inside the 20.
The winner will have DeAree Rogers waiting at receiver. Rogers led NIU with 46 catches, 506 yards and three touchdown receptions last season, including six catches for 84 yards and a score at Mississippi State and seven for 107 yards with a touchdown at Ohio.
The defense faces a different adjustment each week. Air Force’s motion and option game demand control of specific assignments. San Jose State can spread defenders across the field with its passing attack. Lindo expects the newcomers to learn those differences quickly.
“The diversity between the offenses is going to be key, and how we adapt to those is going to be real pivotal for our defense,” Lindo said.
Harley’s first NIU defense allowed 173.9 passing yards per game in 2025, 12th nationally, and forced at least one turnover in six of its final seven games.
The conference move will also change NIU’s weekly routine. Hron will not miss the irregularity of November MAC games played on Tuesdays. Those schedules created extended breaks followed by shortened weeks, required players to practice during weekends and interfered with classes. Mountain West games will return NIU to a more traditional Friday and Saturday rhythm for most of the season.
Half the conference schedule is entirely new: NIU will face four Mountain West opponents for the first time, according to the school’s media days report. The other four have played the Huskies only 12 times combined. Air Force arrives Oct. 10 for homecoming and NIU’s first league game. Hron will have his Saturday routine back, with an unfamiliar opponent on the other side of the line.
“You get to keep your routine now,” Hron said.
“That was one of the things that kind of sucked about MACtion. You get this mini-bye, and then all of a sudden you’re practicing on weekends and playing in the middle of the week.”
Hron is looking forward to playing at Wyoming. Lindo wants to experience Allegiant Stadium when NIU visits UNLV, a chance to play in the kind of NFL venue he hopes to reach professionally.
Watch the full Rebel Daily Drive interview with Northern Illinois players Landon Hron and Liam Lindo: