2019 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

The 2019 Northern Illinois Huskies football team will represent Northern Illinois University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Huskies will be led by first-year head coach Thomas Hammock and will play their home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois. They will compete as reigning champions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), having won the 2018 MAC Championship Game as champions of the West Division.

Coaching changes
On January 18, 2019, Northern Illinois announced the hiring of Thomas Hammock to be the new head coach. He replaced six-year head coach Rod Carey, who left to take the head coaching job at Temple University. Hammock was a star running back for the Huskies from 1999 to 2002 and had spent the previous five years as the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens.

On January 25, the Hammock announced the hiring of former South Dakota State offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness to the same position. On February 11, Derrick Jackson was announced as the new defensive coordinator. Jackson had spent the previous two seasons as cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator at Purdue.

MAC media poll
The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 23, 2019, with the Huskies predicted to finish in third place in the West Division.

Schedule
Northern Illinois' 2019 schedule will begin on August 31 with a non-conference home game against Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They will then play three consecutive non-conference road games against Utah of the Pac-12 Conference, Nebraska of the Big Ten Conference, and, after a bye week, Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In Mid-American Conference play, the Huskies will play home games against Ball State, Akron, Eastern Michigan, and Western Michigan; and road games against Ohio, Miami, Central Michigan, and Toledo. They will not play East Division members Bowling Green, Buffalo, or Kent State as part of the regular season.