Northern Illinois reportedly looking at Wisconsin OC Joe Rudolph as head coach candidate
Northern Illinois reportedly has interest in Wisconsin offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph as a candidate to fill its head coaching vacancy.
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported on Monday that Rudolph was among the names that have mentioned as the most likely to lead the Huskies for the 2019 season. The other two likely candidates are SMU defensive coordinator Kevin Kane and Baltimore Ravens running backs coach Thomas Hammock.
All three candidates have ties to Wisconsin. That’s significant because current Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier also spent seven seasons in Madison under Barry Alvarez.
#NIU coaching search update: The three names I've heard most for the job are Baltimore Ravens RBs coach Thomas Hammock, #SMU defensive coordinator Kevin Kane and #Wisconsin offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph. School is using Parker Executive Search to assist.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 14, 2019
One theme is that all three men either work or worked at Wisconsin, where NIU athletic director Sean Frazier spent seven years under Barry Alvarez before taking the NIU job. Hammock and Kane have spent time at both Wisconsin and NIU.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 14, 2019
Kane was a graduate assistant at Wisconsin from 2008-2009 and served in a quality control role in 2010. Hammock was a graduate assistant from 2003-2004 for the Badgers and returned to Madison from 2011-2013 to serve as running backs coach and assistant head coach.
Kane and Hammock have also served on Northern Illinois’ staff in the past.
Rudolph has been on Paul Chryst’s staff since 2012. He joined the head coach at Pitt in 2012 and followed him to Wisconsin prior to the start of the 2015 season. Rudolph has been the brains behind one of the top rushing offenses in the country over the last two seasons.
