Full Text of HR0846 95th General Assembly
HR0846 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Illinois University in a first class fashion, and win; and
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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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