Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock went on a passionate rant about the state of college football and the clip has since gone viral on social media.
Hammock spoke passionately against the NIL and the transfer portal and its negative impact on collegiate athletes and the game itself.
The head coach, a former student athlete, said that the lessons he learned in college were far more valuable than a quick payday. He wouldn’t trade his experience for the world, even if he theoretically would have left money on the table.
“I enjoyed my college experience,” Hammock said. “I didn’t get one dime. But the lessons I learned were more valuable than any money you could ever pay me. I appreciate that because that’s long term. People are losing the fact this is short term…Don’t lose focus of the long term. Get your degree and learn valuable lessons that are going to help you in the long term of your life. That’s the whole purpose. This is a transition from being a kid to a grown up. I hope people don’t lose focus of that.
“Everyone’s talking about everything else besides the most important thing of going to college. Because if you’re going to college to get a couple of dollars, you might as well go get a job. This is too hard to go get a couple of dollars. Learn the lessons that you need to learn to be successful in life for the next 40 or 50 years of your life. I would do it again for free because of the things I learned. That’s why I’m standing here today, because of what I learned in college. Not because of how much someone gave me.”
Here’s the clip:
Hammock is entering his seventh season as the head coach at Northern Illinois, where he was a two-time academic All-American as a running back in the early 2000s. His Huskies teams have made bowl games in three of the past four seasons, including last season, when they went 8-5 and earned a stunning road win against eventual national runner-up Notre Dame.
Northern Illinois will open their 2025 campaign against Holy Cross on August 30th at 3:30 p.m. ET.
