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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to honor Northern Illinois | ||||||
| 4 | University Head Football Coach Joe Novak on his career as a | ||||||
| 5 | football coach and on his retirement; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak was a three-sport letterman at Mentor, | ||||||
| 7 | Ohio, High School and was inducted into the Mentor High School | ||||||
| 8 | Sports Hall of Fame in 1999; he received a Bachelor's degree in | ||||||
| 9 | Education in 1967 and a Master's in Education Administration | ||||||
| 10 | from Miami University in 1968; he and his wife, the former | ||||||
| 11 | Carole Hinkel of Mentor, have two grown sons, David and Jeremy, | ||||||
| 12 | and three grandchildren; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak began his prep coaching career as | ||||||
| 14 | defensive ends coach at Warren, Ohio, Western Reserve High | ||||||
| 15 | School in 1968; he was elevated to head coach five years later, | ||||||
| 16 | and led Western Reserve to a 12-0 record and Ohio's large | ||||||
| 17 | school division state title, earning 1972 Coach of the Year | ||||||
| 18 | honors; he took Western Reserve back to the state finals a year | ||||||
| 19 | later with an 11-1 record; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, He began his collegiate coaching career as an | ||||||
| 21 | assistant at Miami University; at the University of Illinois | ||||||
| 22 | Joe Novak worked for Gary Moeller as defensive line coach | ||||||
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| 1 | before joining the coaching staff at Indiana; he was a part of | ||||||
| 2 | 65 Hoosier triumphs, seven winning regular seasons, and six | ||||||
| 3 | postseason bowl appearances in 12 years; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak was hired as Northern Illinois | ||||||
| 5 | University's 19th head football coach on December 22, 1995, | ||||||
| 6 | after 22 seasons as a full-time assistant at the NCAA Division | ||||||
| 7 | I-A level at his alma mater, Miami University, (1974-1976), the | ||||||
| 8 | University of Illinois (1977-1979), Northern Illinois | ||||||
| 9 | University (1980-1983), and Indiana University (1984-1995); | ||||||
| 10 | and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, The principles of honesty, integrity, and respect | ||||||
| 12 | have guided Joe Novak, not only throughout his 12 year tenure | ||||||
| 13 | as head coach of the Northern Illinois University football | ||||||
| 14 | team, but throughout his 40 years as a football coach; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak's coaching philosophy included teaching | ||||||
| 16 | the basic life skills that have made so many of his players | ||||||
| 17 | successful off the field; he demanded toughness, hard work, and | ||||||
| 18 | accountability from each of his Huskie players throughout the | ||||||
| 19 | years; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak emphasized academics and viewed the | ||||||
| 21 | student-athlete as a whole person; players learned the program | ||||||
| 22 | goals from Coach Novak: earn an NIU degree, represent Northern | ||||||
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| 1 | Illinois University in a first class fashion, and win; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak was selected to coach in the 2003 | ||||||
| 3 | Blue-Gray Classic, was the recipient of the prestigious Ray | ||||||
| 4 | Meyer Coach Award at the Giant Awards Dinner in Chicago in June | ||||||
| 5 | of 2005, and is dean of Mid-American Conference
coaches; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Teams led by Joe Novak posted a school-record | ||||||
| 7 | seven straight winning seasons; Northern Illinois ranked as a | ||||||
| 8 | top team in Illinois, and one of the Top 30 NCAA Football Bowl | ||||||
| 9 | Subdivision teams, in terms of winning percentage, since 2000; | ||||||
| 10 | Northern Illinois' resurgence has captured the attention of | ||||||
| 11 | fans and media in Chicago, across the region, and throughout | ||||||
| 12 | the nation; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Joe Novak led his team to landmark wins against | ||||||
| 14 | two high profile BCS teams in 2003 by defeating the 15th ranked | ||||||
| 15 | University of Maryland at home and traveling to Tuscaloosa to | ||||||
| 16 | beat the 21st ranked University of Alabama; the 2003 Huskies | ||||||
| 17 | rose to as high as 10th in initial BCS standings in 2003; in | ||||||
| 18 | 2004 Coach Novak led NIU to their first bowl victory since 1983 | ||||||
| 19 | by becoming the Silicon Valley Bowl champions; during the 2005 | ||||||
| 20 | season NIU appeared in their first MAC Championship and the | ||||||
| 21 | following season the Huskies played in the 2006 Poinsettia | ||||||
| 22 | Bowl; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Thanks to the winning tradition established by | ||||||
| 2 | Coach Novak, Northern Illinois University realized a | ||||||
| 3 | significant upgrade to its football facilities in the fall of | ||||||
| 4 | 2007 with the opening of the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon | ||||||
| 5 | Center; the Student-Athlete Academic Support Services center | ||||||
| 6 | in the bottom floor will directly and significantly impact not | ||||||
| 7 | only Huskie football players, but student-athletes in each of | ||||||
| 8 | the 17 NIU sports programs and is named in honor of Novak and | ||||||
| 9 | his wife, Carole; therefore, be it
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| 10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 11 | NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 12 | congratulate Joe Novak on his retirement as Head Football Coach | ||||||
| 13 | of Northern Illinois University and wish him the best in the | ||||||
| 14 | future; and be it further
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| 15 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 16 | presented to Coach Joe Novak as a token of our esteem.
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