Earlier this season Northern Illinois Head Coach Ed Mathey became the winningest coach in NIU history with his 144th Husky victory in a win over Buffalo. During his five seasons as head coach, Mathey has guided the team to unprecedented success with the Huskies’ three highest single-season victory totals taking place with Mathey at the helm. Last season the Huskies established new school records for Division I wins (34), MAC victories (16) and had their best ever finish at MAC Tournament, finishing third (just one win away from playing for the title) in the unyielding and increasingly competitive Mid-American Conference postseason. Additionally two of Coach Mathey’s coached student-athletes achieved tremendous personal success with closer Matt German becoming the school's first Division I All-American and first baseman Scott Simon who became the MAC's career hit king.

With 16 returning letterwinners and a well stocked pitching staff, Mathey and the Huskies were looking forward to taking the field in 2008 when the start of the season was tragically delayed after the inexplicable deadly shooting rampage at the DeKalb campus which left seven students dead and more than a dozen others injured. In the wake of the tragedy Coach Mathey and the Huskies have used baseball as a way of healing, playing not for the victories, but with new perspective and as a way of returning their lives to some semblance of normalcy after the unfortunate events of February 14th. Additionally, the Huskies have been given an opportunity to return some of the outpouring of support they’ve received from across the nation as they will play Notre Dame on April 16 at the Chicago White Sox home field of U.S. Cellular Field, with all proceeds benefiting the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund.

Coach Mathey recently took some time to reflect on the team’s bittersweet season and the Northern Illinois baseball program.

PING!: NIU started the season with a sixteen inning heartbreaking loss to Portland, then had to follow it up with another game (and loss) with Hawaii later that same day. Yet the Huskies were able to came back to defeat one of the best pitchers in the Midwest in SIU’s Cody Adams just two days later. This is all after the first official weekend of the season was canceled due to the campus tragedy on Feb. 14. Can you speak on your team’s tenacity?

Mathey: Our team has some toughness to it and that starts with the leadership core that is in place which involves not just our captains, but our entire junior and senior classes and the returning players who have been in the program. That has been one of our strengths the past couple years. We have had some guys with mental and emotional toughness who worked hard to get ready for the season and one of the by products of that is dedication. They are putting forth their best effort every time they take the field. One of the other things with our team is that we have assistant coaches who have some toughness to them as well. Steve Joslyn coached high school basketball very successfully and his teams may not have been the most talented, but they played hard from start to finish in every game. Tom Carcione and Ray Napientek were baseball players who came to compete and took pride in that challenge of competition and that rubs off on our players.

PING!: What kind of impact did the reaching out by the White Sox and Royals (each honored the NIU baseball team prior to their Cactus League openers with the Sox sporting NIU baseball hats for the game) have on helping the team’s emotional recovery after the campus tragedy?

Mathey: I cannot say enough in terms of what those organizations have done and how it has affected our team and coaching staff. It really has helped us refocus our attention and take what was a tremendous negative and build some positive baseball things out of it. On our trip to Surprise, Ariz., the Royals were incredible and their manager Trey Hillman spoke to our team and when he did, he not only spoke to them mentally but to their heart about the game of baseball and how it translates to life.

Chicago White Sox' John Danks, wearing an NIU Huskies hat, throws the first pitch during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Colorado Rockies. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Their Director of Player Development J.J. Picollo spoke to our kids and several of the Royals staff stopped by our practice and were just incredible. Our players still speak about it. The White Sox invited some of our players and coaches down to their spring training opener and we threw out the first pitch. The team opened up the doors to their clubhouse and made themselves accessible to us. Not only did they wear our hats in that game but their fundraising effort with auctioning autographed jerseys, hats and baseballs brought in $10,000 for the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund. In addition, the White Sox are opening up their stadium for us and Notre Dame, one of the top programs in the Midwest, to play a night game on April 16 with proceeds going to the scholarship fund. I don’t know that there are words to thank them, not only on behalf of our kids, but for the university and alumni throughout the area. All of this has helped refocus our kids’ attention away from a negative situation. One of our kids mentioned how isolated and alone you felt after that tragic event happened. Since then you realize that is the furthest from the truth because you find out how caring the world of baseball can be. You get caught up in competition, but then you learn that there is a great deal of compassion there as well.

PING!: The Huskies lost some vital players over the off season with the departure of MAC all time hit leader Scot Simon and NCBWA Stopper of the Year finalist Matt German among others. What players have been developing to take their place as team leaders?

Mathey: We really lost four key players and a couple other good players, who were not only a presence statistically, but a presence on our team as well. When we had the all-time hits leader in our lineup, other teams wouldn’t let him beat them. Jesse Seykora picked up a lot of the slack and put pressure on the other teams. Matt German was a comfort to have at end of bullpen and Mark Badgley was very versatile in that he could start, close (he was the NIU career saves leader until German broke his mark), or set up and those are tough guys to replace. Even with those losses, we’ve got a lot of guys back who got serious experience on the field last year and are a year older after being part of our leadership core. When you transition out seniors, as you do in this game, you have to have a group who has helped make decisions and who can be the “lead dogs on the sled”, which is something we’ve tried to do for a while. It is something I picked up while at North Central College and learned from Al Carius, who won 17 national titles as the cross country and track and field coach. We talk a lot about leadership, values and things you cannot take from statistics but make a difference on how your team plays and performs, which are huge assets to have.

PING!: How pleased were you after senior pitcher Trevor Feeney decided to bypass an opportunity to play in the Royals’ organization after being drafted to return to NIU?

Mathey: We were ecstatic about Trevor coming back to our team for his senior season. He was our Friday starter throughout last season and coming back with that experience puts him in a role as the cornerstone of what has the makings of a potentially strong staff. Not only is Trevor very talented, but he is a great kid as well. He doesn’t say a lot but goes about his job and handles the responsibilities of a lead guy by taking the ball on Friday and setting the pace of our pitching staff. It is very beneficial to have a guy like that come back and be able to set the tone for a weekend series.

PING!: Illinois and the Great Lakes region have an abundance of Division I baseball programs competing for players. What factors do you use to sell NIU to recruits?

Mathey: Kids have a lot of options and we have some very talented players around the Chicagoland area and throughout the region. As a staff and program, we try to promote to the kids that they will have an opportunity to develop and to get playing time at Northern Illinois. We keep our roster at a useable number so that each player gets reps in practice and games. We don’t overload our roster so that we can do that. We stay true to our word on the recruiting trail and that helps over time. We talk to recruits about our approach to academics, our managerial approach and when you are up front about those things that helps your reputation. Our university and its location are on the rise and it is getting closer to the Chicago base. We talk a lot about the quality of the Mid-American Conference and the numbers of players drafted and how it compares very favorably to other Midwest leagues. Our quality of the schedule that we attempt to play year in and year out with teams like Nebraska, Texas Tech, Arizona State and Oklahoma gives our kids a chance to showcase their abilities. The kids in our program are going to have the opportunity to showcase their abilities to pro scouts, but are also prepared for the real world and the non-baseball world. We have a very approachable coaching staff with an open door policy when it comes to talking about baseball, school, and the things going on in their lives that are important to them.

PING!: Once the final out was recorded for win number #144, do you do anything special to celebrate?

Mathey: Nothing too crazy. My oldest son Patrick (12) was with us and selfishly I was hoping that he would be able to come on the trip because it’s not often in this business that you get to share that type of moment with your family right away. Having him there was special. After the game, I got a hug from my son and a “congratulations” and “way to go”, and that meant a lot. I received handshakes from our assistant coaches and players, but it’s not about me, it’s the whole group who shares in the success.

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