By WJBC Staff
NORMAL – Illinois State football has its new defensive coordinator.
Head coach Brock Spack announced the hiring of former ISU defensive lineman and Redbird assistant coach Travis Niekamp on Thursday.
Niekamp, who previously served as outside linebacker, safeties and defensive tackles coach for head coach Todd Berry at Illinois State (1998-99), returns as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the Redbirds.
“Travis has worked with some big-time programs at the FCS level and has a background at the FBS level as well, so that checked off a lot of boxes for me,” Spack stated. “He’s been a coordinator and coached defensive lineman and linebackers in the past, so he has a great idea of the big picture on defense while also being able to focus in on the defensive line here at Illinois State. He came very highly recommended and has great Midwest recruiting ties, so we are very excited to have him as part of our staff.”
Niekamp recently spent two seasons as part of the coaching staff at Montana, serving as the Grizzlies’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. He joined head coach Bob Stitt’s staff in January of 2016, and in his first season at Montana, Niekamp coached linebacker Josh Buss, who finished the 2016 season as Montana’s leading tackler. Buss posted 20 tackles for loss, a national best among sophomores, and earned a place on the HERO Sports FCS Sophomore Defensive All-America first team.
“I have a lot of great memories of Illinois State and this is a very special place to me,” Niekamp said. “I’m extremely grateful to Coach Spack for giving me the opportunity to come back home and work with him and the rest of the staff. Coach Spack has coordinated defenses at a very high level in the past and this program has had a lot of success on defense since he’s been here, so it’s exciting for me to learn from him and work with the rest of the coaches to continue to move this program forward. I’m anxious to get to know and work with our players very soon and get going.”
Prior to heading to Montana, Niekamp served as Louisiana-Monroe’s co-defensive coordinator in 2015 for Berry, as well as the Warhawks’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach from 2013-2015. In 2012, Niekamp served as ULM’s tight ends coach.
No stranger to the Northwest, Niekamp also served as linebackers coach at Washington State from 2007-2011, in addition to serving as the Cougars’ director of football development. Prior to his time in Pullman, he was the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Eastern Washington from 2004-2007.
Following his playing career as a defensive lineman at Illinois State (1994-1997), Niekamp joined the coaching staff and helped the Redbirds earn a spot in the NCAA FCS playoffs in 1998, before winning the program’s first Gateway Conference title and reaching the FCS semifinal game in 1999. In 2000, he moved with Berry to the United States Military Academy as tight ends coach (2000-03).
A native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Niekamp and his wife, Tracy, have three children — Tye Dalton, Dexter Kole and Brooke Ryan.
