Northern Illinois football adds defensive coaches
Jay Niemann, a veteran defensive coordinator who has spent much of his career in Iowa, and Ryan Nielsen, a former USC defensive lineman who has coached at Mississippi and Tennessee-Martin, are joining the staff of new Northern Illinois head football coach Dave Doeren.
Niemann, who has spent the last three seasons at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, will serve as the defensive coordinator and coach the NIU safeties. Nielsen leaves UT-Martin to direct the Huskies' defensive line. They will join linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz, who returns for his fourth season at Northern Illinois, on the defensive side of the ball.
“Jay brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our defense,” Doeren said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “He is one of the better teachers I have witnessed as a coach and I know he believes in the same principles of defense that I do. His players will be students of the game and be very well prepared on game day.”
Niemann has spent the last 25 years as a collegiate coach on the defensive side of the ball. In three seasons as secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator at Hardin-Simmons, he helped turn around a defense that ranked last in the nation prior to his arrival to the No. 2 unit in the American Southwest Conference in 2009. He coached free safety Matt Warnish to All-America honors in 2008 and saw three of his defensive backs earn all-conference accolades in the past two seasons.
The Avoca, Iowa native also brings experience as a head coach to the NIU sidelines as he served as head coach at Simpson (Iowa) College from 2002-07 and compiled a 32-29 record. He led Simpson to the 2003 NCAA playoffs while also serving as the Storm defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
In five years at the University of Northern Iowa (1997-2001), Niemann served as the secondary coach (1997, 2001), linebacker coach (1998-99) and defensive coordinator (1999-2000). The Panthers advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in 2001, where they were defeated by a Montana staff that included Doeren.
Niemann spent seven seasons at Drake University as the assistant head coach (beginning in 1995), defensive coordinator and secondary coach. The Iowa State grad, who played for the Cyclones from 1979-82, began his career as an assistant coach at Western Washington University and also was a graduate assistant coach at the University of Washington.
“I am thrilled to be coaching with Dave Doeren again and joining his staff at NIU,” Niemann said. “I am really anxious to meet the current players who have done such a great job here and also getting out on the road to help assemble another class of players who can help build on this rich tradition.”
Nielsen comes to Northern Illinois after one season at Tennessee-Martin, where he served as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator.
The Simi Valley, Calif. native went to UT-Martin after two seasons at Central Connecticut State. Nielsen coached the defensive line at Ole Miss from March 2005 to December 2007, where his pupils included future NFL player Jamie Mitchell, freshman All-American Marcus Tillman (2006) and 2007 Southeastern Conference sack leader Greg Hardy.
“Ryan was one of the toughest players I have been around as a coach when I was at USC,” Doeren said. “He strained to get the most out of his ability as a player and now watching him as a coach has been no different. He has tremendous energy and passion for the game of football. His players will run through walls for him. I believe that the line of scrimmage is where games are won and lost. I know Ryan's players will exemplify toughness and be great technicians. He also has a background of recruiting at all levels, being a defensive coordinator, and a special teams coordinator so he will have great input in many areas on our staff.”
Nielsen and Doeren have known each other since their days at USC, where Nielsen was an All-Pac 10 Conference defensive lineman as a sophomore and Doeren was on the coaching staff. Neilsen was a defensive tackle for the Trojans from 1997-2002, and recorded a career best 39 tackles in 1999. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and played one season of Arena Football with the Los Angeles Avengers.
“I am fired up to be here at Northern Illinois and feel very fortunate to be with Coach Doeren,” Nielsen said. “I have a lot of respect for Dave; he's a motivator, a great person and a great ball coach. He's done it through hard work and that's exactly what I plan to bring to the Huskies.”
Doeren, who is continuing his duties as defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin as they prepare for the Rose Bowl match-up versus TCU, plans to announce additional members of his NIU coaching staff later this week.