The extension keeps one of the winningest coaches in NIU and Mid-American Conference history in DeKalb through June 2023. He earned the additional year when the Huskies secured a spot in the 2018 Marathon MAC Championship game, which NIU won with a dramatic 30-29 victory over Buffalo.
“I would like to congratulate Coach Carey, the NIU football staff, and the entire NIU football program on a championship season.” Frazier said. “We are excited that Coach Carey has accepted the additional year to remain at NIU and continue to build on our football championship successes.
Carey has led NIU to two MAC Championships as head coach and has been a part of four of the Huskies’ five titles all-time. In his six seasons at the helm of the program, NIU has played in four MAC Championship games.
His 52 wins are second only to Joe Novak in NIU’s history as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution and he ranks 18th all-time in victories by a MAC coach. In taking five of his six NIU teams to bowl appearances, including beginning his head coaching career in the 2013 Orange Bowl, he has led NIU in six of the Huskies’ 13 bowl games as a major college program.
Carey’s Huskie teams are 4-2 versus teams from the Big Ten Conference and he has more “Boneyard” wins – with five wins over larger conference programs – than any coach in school history. He has been even better versus the MAC with a .792 winning percentage in league games; his 38 MAC wins rank 15th all-time in league regular season contests.
Carey has coached seven NIU players to All-America honors, including defensive end Sutton Smith, who this year became the first Huskie to be named a first team All-American in back-to-back seasons.
“Anytime you have these incentive clauses activated, it means your team is doing what you want to do which is win games and win championships,” Carey said. “Once the incentive clause was met and we qualified for the MAC Championship game, it kicked in another year and to me that means the contract is working for everyone.”