Scoring 30.2 points per game certainly played a favorable role in Illinois State’s 9-4 season and advancement to the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Yet head coach Brock Spack has latched on to a less heralded statist… more »

Defensive end Nate Palmer and his fellow seniors on Illinois State's football team didn't want it out of their hands again. They wanted to assure postseason play by winning the Missouri Valley Conference and its automatic bid to the 20-team Division… more »

Last year, every team in the Top 20 of the GPI with seven Division I victories earned a playoff spot. Indiana State, currently No. 13, and Youngstown State, currently No. 15, could pick up their seventh Division I wins this weekend. North Dakota State… more »

Northern Iowa's offense, led by quarterback Tirrell Rennie and his running ability, gets a lot of the attention. But it's defense where the Panthers, ranked second in the Football Championship Subdivision, perhaps pack the biggest wallop. UNI star… more »

State FCS programs have challenges and promise SIU, WIU, EIU and Illinois State all have lofty goals for 2011 Email print Comments 0 There is nothing quite like preseason projections to fuel the optimism of college football coa… more »

Whether by default or by determination, Illinois State coach Brock Spack is pulling double duty this year. Spack, a former defensive coordinator at Purdue, will take over the Redbirds' defense in addition to being the head coach this fall. The positi… more »

The Missouri Valley Football Conference had an unprecedented logjam in 2010, with six of the nine teams finishing tied for third at 4-4 in league play. But judging by the 2011 preseason poll released Monday and comments from coaches in the media tele… more »

Gary Friedman enters his first season as Illinois State director of athletics with a football team fresh off winning seasons in the first two years of Coach Brock Spack’s tenure. Friedman also inherits a decaying home for that team. Hancock Stadium i… more »

Illinois State University’s President Al Bowman announced the appointment of Gary Friedman as the Redbirds’ Director of Athletics Wednesday. Friedman, who previously served as the senior associate athletic director at Louisville, was chosen from approx… more »

NORMAL, Ill. – It has been an offseason of transition and change for the Illinois State football coaching staff, but head coach Brock Spack has re-solidified that unit when he announced the hiring of assistant coaches Cody Deti, Dominic Anderson and Gre… more »

No easy path for Jackrabbits in conference South Dakota State opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play - and the home portion of its schedule - on Saturday against Illinois State. But familiar may not equate to friendly. The league doesn't f… more »

Underwood gets head start on college game with Redbirds football team The scenery on the 35-or-so-mile trip from Washington to Normal doesn’t change a great deal. But once in Normal things are as different as the grass and chalked Babcook Field ve… more »

While some of the biggest conferences in Division 1 athletics have made changes in membership of late, some prominent Division 1-AA schools aren’t looking to move anytime soon. Illinois State University, North Dakota State University and Southern Ill… more »

NORMAL — Much has changed in and around the Illinois State football program in the past year as Brock Spack enters his second season as coach. Yet Matt Brown and Drew Kiel are right back where they were a year ago, in a tight tussle for the Redbirds’… more »

NORMAL -- Cody White has added a lot more than another digit to his uniform number. While switching from No. 5 to 56, the Illinois State football player has packed on 30 pounds in the past few months to facilitate his move from tight end to offensive… more »