Rob Harley

Hey Hawkeye fans, Tyler Tashman with the Des Moines Register here, nearing kickoff for Iowa's 2026 season opener against Northern Illinois.

Earlier this week, I spoke with NIU interim head coach Rob Harley and have a print piece on, depending on when you're listening to this, it will either be out or will be coming out soon, kind of detailing some background about a interim head coach Rob Harley and the NIU program and 2026 team, but also wanted to get this out on the airwaves for those that are interested in learning more about NIU this way.

So just a little bit of background before we get into the phone interview in February head coach Thomas Hammock took a job as the Seattle Seahawks running backs coach and so Harley who had finished his first season as defensive coordinator at NIU was promoted to interim head coach and because there was that coaching change there the transfer portal was reopened outside of the previous January window so that was something that Rob Harley had to navigate, but he was able to retain almost the entire roster through that process.

Last season, the Huskies were 3-9 overall, so have some work to be done to turn around what was a disappointing season last year.

But this will be Harley's first game as interim head coach.

The Huskies went into Kinnick Stadium to open the 2013 season and beat Iowa 30-27.

And then two seasons ago, NIU pulled off a stunning victory at Notre Dame.

However, you'll hear Rob Harley say, downplaying niu's history of upset so i want to give uh appreciate rob harley for taking the time to talk and providing some insight into the niu program and the 2026 team what is what was that whole kind of transition like taking on that interim role

There's three potential starting quarterbacks for Northern Illinois.

Yeah, I talked to Rob Harley.

They haven't made a decision on that yet.

So there's uncertainty on both sides of the equation here.

So here's the Northern Illinois story.

Their previous head coach, Thomas Hammock, left in February to take a job with the Seattle Seahawks as their running backs coach.

And Rob Harley was an internal promotion.

Last season was his first with the program.

He went to the NFL to do some coordinating.

Rob Harley gets promoted from defensive coordinator, but that doesn't mean slow and methodical because they hired Quinn Sanders as offensive coordinator from the University of Charleston.

who scored like 40-plus points constantly.

That was the norm for them.

Fast playing, fast playing.

This is going to be a very slow to very fast change for North Carolina as long as, you know, Rob Harley gives him the ropes.

And I think he will.

On this team, he's not going to play the same way they lost almost every game last year.

The P.J. Fleck is not back at Northern Illinois.

They have two oars on their depth chart, meaning there are three guys in competition for Rob Harley's starting job as they come to Iowa City on Saturday.

We're going to take a closer look at Northern Illinois coming up tomorrow with our Behind Enemy Lines segment.

But a guy who might have a big game can, depending on...

So they have an interim coach right now.

Their former defensive coordinator, Rob Harley is now taking over in the interim.

There was a mass exodus of guys.

Like all of these dudes are gone.

So they have an interim coach right now.

Their former defensive coordinator, Rob Harley, is now taking over in the interim.

There was a mass exodus of guys.

Like all of these dudes are gone.