With an opening at special teams coordinator, and one more season left in the MAC conference before their football-only move to the Mountain West, Thomas Hammock and NIU are hiring a former MAC coordinator to fill their opening.
Sources tell FootballScoop that former Ball State special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Cory Connolly is joining the staff in DeKalb.
We're told his role will be special teams coordinator and linebackers coach.
A decorated player during his time at Quincy (D-II - IL), Connolly was a rare three-time captain as a defensive end.
He got his start coaching at as a graduate assistant at Carthage (D-III - WI) before taking a graduate assistant job at Ball State working with the outside linebackers and quickly earned a promotion to a full-time role.
By 2020 he was the Cardinals outside linebackers coach and earned a promotion to special teams coordinator in 2022.
Connolly spent the past two seasons coordinating special teams and coaching the outside backers before Ball State parted ways with Mike Neu back in November after a 3-7 start to the season, ending his nine season tenure with the program.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.