After the biggest win of his coaching career, 16-14 at Notre Dame, Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock couldn’t help but think about what it took to get to this moment. All the hours, all the effort, the heartfelt one-on-one conversations to hold together a veteran-laden Northern Illinois team. In a world in which Group of Five programs are often prey to Power Four vultures, Hammock and his coaching staff fought back to keep the roster intact. There was no way to compete with the money, so he focused on the sentimental, telling them he had and would continue to invest everything he had in making them the best versions of themselves.