Episode 62: Brock Spack
John: Welcome to Redbird Buzz. I'm John Twork with University Marketing and Communications. Our guest today is Brock Spack, starting his 18th season as the head coach of the Illinois State University football team. A native of Rockford, Illinois, Coach Spack played college football at Purdue University, where he was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Boilermakers. After graduating in 1984, he stayed with Purdue as a graduate assistant coach for two years before serving as an assistant at Eastern Illinois University, Wabash College, and Wyoming. He returned to Purdue as the Boilermakers' defensive coordinator for 12 seasons until he accepted the head coach position at Illinois State in 2009. During his tenure in Normal, Spack has guided the Redbirds to seven FCS playoffs, two Missouri Valley Football Conference titles and two FCS championship game appearances, including a thrilling one-point overtime loss to number two Montana State in January. Illinois State's 2025-26 FCS playoff journey was historic, with the Redbirds becoming the first team in FCS history to win four straight road games in route to the championship matchup, including an upset come-from-behind shocker against number one North Dakota State in the second round. Six months after narrowly falling in the national championship game, Spack and the Redbirds, who are picked to finish second in the MVFC, are preparing to kick off the 2026 season with fall camp about to start ahead of the season opener on Saturday, August 29th against St. Francis at Hancock Stadium. And it's my pleasure to welcome Illinois State football coach Brock's back to Redbird Buzz. What's the word, Redbird? As you start your 18th season with the Redbirds, just take us through your preparations. You got a little time away at the lake this summer, and now you're back. Fall camp starts on Thursday. The 2026 season is here. What preparation are you going through to get ready for this season, even though it seems like last season just ended.
Brock: Yeah, it really does seem that way, and we've done this before. You know, we played, we played actually a little later than the first time, but we've learned some things and how to handle the off season after a deep run in the playoffs. We've had a few few examples of that, and so we've we've had some experience, obviously. So that always helps experience, you know, Trump's intelligence sometimes. So I we've we've learned some things. We did this year. I took some things. If you're talking about players, we take some things off the players' plate. You know, we've done very well academically as a team, and I thought this summer we would we would back off, you know, summer school a little bit, you know, because our guys they try to jam a lot of stuff in in the spring and summer, so fall's a little easier. I get all that, but most of our guys have been here at least a year or ahead academically, and even our young freshmen, I saw their eyes, you know, in in January, and I said, I can't believe we're still practicing football, and and they were they were on scout teams, you know, they they've not they're not playing yet, and I just felt that's a lot. So what I did with the freshmen, we we we we next where you got one class, and that's all you're having. Your three or four weeks, you're going home. You know, get a little piece of what it's like from from training standpoint. You know, campus, take a class, get a feel for it, and then and then go home. So I think that's worked out pretty well at this point. We'll see. And I asked a lot, a lot, a lot of our players who are are doing really well don't didn't need to have to take summer school didn't, and they spent more time in the weight room and recovering from last year. And I felt we needed that. You know, we just looked like a tired, very tired team after the after the run. And I think we had a very good spring. We felt we thought we had a good winter conditioning period had good spring. Now we've had a very good summer, but it'll all, you know, come out in the wash here when we start playing again. We'll see how good it is, you know. But we got to be. There's some things. Training camps will start on Thursday, right, Mike? Is that Thursday? Right. Today's today's Tuesday, right? Yeah. Tomorrow's report day, and we start practice on Thursday, and here we here we go. So we we start the the grind again, and and there's no no way out of it now, you know. So so you can't go back and change things. So right now we we took a more conservative approach, I guess, and just kind of slowed. Down a little bit, and and and intensity hasn't hasn't hasn't changed. It's just just some of the things we've taken off their plate that they that may be unnecessary this time of year. So as we got as we got ready now, there's some guys that had to do some academic things to stay current in their in their schedule for our graduation. That's really important, but and we we get that, and you know about half our team is that way, so they had to take a class or two, but nothing nothing more really just one class. So try to try to ease the pain a little bit for them, and and have them have them a good summer, and just get some rest, and and recharge their battery, and get in training, and get become a better football player as well as you know a better student. So, if we can get all that done and get good rest in there, I was pretty happy. So we'll we'll see what it looks like in next couple days. But but I think so far so good. You know, I thought the players have really responded well. They've had they've had a good off season, and the summer has been really good.
John: How about your summer? Do you have some time to to mentally reset? I know the the season goes on and on, and there's recruiting, and it's a lot different. But but yeah, how do you Brock's back mentally reset and get ready for the season?
Brock: That's a good point because I always felt that was important, and I I worked for a guy that gave us the whole month of July off, and and when I was in the Big 10, you know, and now that's the rule. You know you have to do that in Power Four, and that's a good rule, and that's the rule we follow. You know, I don't ask the guys because a lot of a lot of people do a lot of stuff in July in FCS. We do not. You know, we're done. You know, we do all our stuff. I I'm on an FBS program. I'm a Power Four guy, and we do things in Power Four, and we we work hard in May June pound June with with high school you know recruiting high school camps do our own camp work our own players and by the time July comes our players we only have a couple OTAs left so we let our players take over and for a couple of those it builds leadership they should know they should run and be able to run it, and they do. They all every year they run out really well, and that's part of the process of becoming a better a better team, and you and putting more on your players. Say this is your team now, and now we're handing it over to you because these guys need a break, and they've been working hard, and you know, and and and they have families, and you you want them to. Everybody wants to be excited to be here when we start practicing in July. Hard to believe we're starting in July, but we are starting end of July. For we'll say August. But and we we got to have a lot of energy. We got to be ready for that. Because there's no going back now. You can't you can't sleep in anymore. You can't can't take days off. You know I mean, for us, anyways, and and so we we got to make sure we take care of our coaching staff as well. So, and everybody around the program, support staff, coaching staff, players, and I think it's gone very well. We're able to give guys, you know, a week or so off, you know, and take a deep breath and get ready for what's to come? The hardest quarter, the fourth quarter. So we, you know, it's winter conditioning, spring football, summer conditioning. Now it's training camp. It's the hardest quarter.
John: And the longest one, huh?
Brock: Not the longest. I would say the you know the I'd say winter conditioning usually is the longest, but not this year. Yeah, but usually it's the longest. Yes, this is the quarter of preparing for the season. In other words, correct. It's the first, second, third.
John: This is the fourth quarter of a championship season, right?
Brock: And this is the fourth quarter. It's how we break it up. And now we got, and it's very intense, and we're all here. We got your unrebuted attention. There's no school. There's no, there's no social. I mean, there there is social life amongst our team, but it's it's hard to do that. We were all locked in. Now we have you for whatever two three weeks to get ready to play.
John: Is this one of those opportunities for the team to grow closer because they spend so much time together. They're staying in the dorms. They're eating together, and they they're they're eating and breathing football and each other. Right?
Brock: It's more that more about that. Yes, I would, you know, when in the Big 10, when I was in the Big 10, we would stay at a hotel the whole time. You know, and we don't do that here. I know some guys at Wisconsin. We have a couple, three of them that are here. Had a guy or two before guys being coaches, and I knew Coach Alvarez a little bit. But what he did when he came the AD there, he he stopped that. He he made he let everybody stay in a dorm. You stay in your your apartment, and and I got to think about that. I said, why do we put them because of camaraderie, right? Try to put them in when we're in training camp. It costs a lot of money. Number one, sure. Number that's that's not really the issue. The issue is more about you know keeping them comfortable in their own own environment. We ask them to do this once we're out of camp. They have to do it for a whole foot. All season, right? And we're not allowed in FCS when we're at home games to put team up in a hotel. On the road, you're allowed to put them in a hotel, so they're gonna have to do this anyways. You have to trust your team anyways, right? On Friday night for a game, so why not do it? They're in training camp. So we, everybody stays in their own own dorm and or their own apartment, and but they do they eat together, same spot? They're in meetings together. It's probably pretty nice to get away a little bit and take a deep breath in the evening once they're done here. But yeah, it's that time we build that kind of stuff, and but we don't stay in a hotel like we used to, or at least I don't know if they did here. I'm sure they stayed in the dorms over here, but I just just felt from a this doesn't make sense anymore to do that if you trust your players and which I do. I think we have really good guys.
John: Before we go further talking about this season, I want to go back to to the beginning for you. You're from Rockford. Where where did you first develop that passion for football, and and it led you to Purdue, and then this illustrious coaching career. But was football your favorite sport growing up?
Brock: Oh yeah, I loved it. I don't know. There was a when I was a kid there. I there there was a empty lot across. I mean, it's like sand lot, right? Yeah. There was empty lot across the street from where we lived, and I was like four or five years old. My dad would tell me he'd come. Hey, Dad, I go play football to those guys. He said, "You're not big enough to go over there. You can try. And I would go over, and they let me play. And it was just Sandlot football, you know. When I got older, he'd say, "Hey, you don't want to be doing that anymore. You know, it's getting so he wanted to get me an organized football, and I was seven years old, and you had to be eight to get in what they call junior tackle at the time, and I don't know how they fudged on my on my on my birth certificate, but they did, and I got to play at seven, and and I've been playing ever since. I'm 64, so I played or coached ever since. I love playing football. Didn't obviously did out all the sports, you know, football, basketball, baseball. I ran track and became a track guy. Believe it or not, I have an asthma. You can hear me talk. I've kind of nasally because I have asthma, but it was my mom said. I never guessed you'd ever be a track athlete ever. But anyway, long story short, I I ran track in high school, and the high school coach didn't give me any choice. A track coach, you're on track. I'll play baseball, and you're playing on track. Okay, you know that'll help you get a football scholarship someday. Okay, I'll play, and so I ran track and loved it and loved the interview. You know, that's where I grew up. Basically, I tell people I grew up on a dead end street in Rockford, Illinois, and it was a blue collar. I remember doing folks like you when I first got the job. We we we took a ride. I I did a did something with the alums from that area at a at the Olympic. It's a it's a restaurant on the west side on the river, and we can't have to come in and where all the burned out factories are. I mean, factories have been done for 4050 years, and there's not much. And they looked at me and they go, "You grew up here? I said, "Yeah, that's where I grew up, and she says, "Wow, you can see the wow on their face, and yeah. So, so I always dreamed of playing college football, and I didn't know if I thought about the academic side as much, you know, just being honest. But obviously, when you when you get the opportunity, get scholarship offers to go play you know college football at a lot of great schools, and I was very fortunate, you know, and I was fortunate I picked a school that I that I picked, but I also I had a lot of great options and some great schools, and I met my wife there. I can't say anything but that now, right? I can't say I wish I would have gone somewhere else because I wish she doesn't. She takes unkindly. But but that that's you know I I'm very glad I went to Purdue. But so that's kind of where it all started, and I just love football. I don't think I could. I was going to play football as long as I could, and now I was going to coach as long as I could, and so far so good. You know, we've we've had a good run here, and and this is a this is kind of a job I thought I was made for. My high school head high school coach and our coordinator, who our coordinator on defense was in high school, Rockford East. They both went to school here. They both played football here, and the coordinator was a wrestler here. And also, and it was a, and they, and it's kind of when I took the job here. Coach Stocker was my head coach. He he passed away when I was in college. Unfortunately, he had he had cancer and died at 37, which is awful. But those without those four those two guys, and you know I had a guy named Dan Salvi, my track and field coach, who was the guy who recruited me right out of gym class. You know I heard you do both sports. You only could do track now. I mean football. I mean it was baseball and track. Yeah, I do baseball and track. So you're not doing baseball anymore. You can do this for football, okay? And that's what we did. So he took me in a car, and and in this winters I'd go all these track meets all over the Midwest, and he would put me in all these events, and I learned the hard way, fast. And there's no else to blame in track. It's just you and everybody else and the clock. So that's what we did.
So, long story short, I love the competition, and and I I got a scholarship to play football. So it it got me out of there, and I and I didn't realize how important the education was. I picked Purdue for all the wrong reasons: playing time, linebacker system, all that stuff. You know, and I thought, well, I can get an education in any one of these places, and and that's true. That was true. They're all really good schools, but I didn't put the weight on it. Once I was there, I said, wow, this is pretty cool. When I when I stood in when I went in my first classroom, I never forgot. I looked around, and there's a guy. It's a it's like a nuclear engineer, and next to me, there's some type of physics major. Yeah. Here I am. I don't know what I want to do. And I said, "Well, I'm in a class with these people. I'm way over my head. And but I figured it out, and I was fortunate to have tutors and all that stuff to help me get get off to a good start. And and then I I used the competitive your competitive instincts to you know you go compete in a classroom, go compete like you do in practice, and go compete like you do on a football field, and and and because you find out you're competing against everybody for a test. A is not necessarily 80 90% It could be 85, 84% because you're competing against everybody else in the bell-shaped curve, right? And so that's I just took that competitive instincts and put them in put them to play in football or in academics. I said, well, this is this football is going to end. I hurt my knee in spring ball my freshman year, and so I lost the last two or three weeks of practice in spring football. It was the first day, and I'll never forget that. The head coach comes looking around. I'm on my back, and he shakes his head like I said, "Oh man, I got the amputate or something. He he looked really bad, and I said, "Oh my God, I'm in deep trouble. So he put me in a car, take me off. He said, actually, they they did all the stuff they did, and they said it'll it'll grow back. You don't need surgery. I had a MCL meter cloud ligament, and it just grows back. So they put me in a cast, and four weeks later, I was running, and I was the only one there, knee the cockroaches in a dorm, and it made me stay there for a while and make sure I was okay. And went home because everybody would go home. We wouldn't stay the whole summer, and unless you had to, and you didn't want to have to. So we went home and trained, and was all Big 10 next year. So, so you can you can overcome those things, and you found that out, and just compete, and and then found out there's a lot of other things you can do in life. You don't have to be a football star to make make a bunch of money. So started learning that, and these guys that were when we were going to go out on Friday night, and they're sitting here doing math equations, those guys are buying, selling guys like me. You know, when they're 45 years old, they're retiring, and so I said, you know, these, you know, that's kind of people you're around, and that that motivates you to to be a better better academic person, and and I got better in school and was that became really important, and got a chance to play pro football briefly, and was kind of banged up towards the end of my career, and was undersized, believe it or not. Then, and came back, was a GA, and then my my career took off from there, and I made a really good relationship. I had a really good relationship guy named Joe Tiller. He was our coordinator on defense, and I was-I was-he kept the-he and our head coach was our defensive coordinator, first player to Purdue. They kept a GA job open, and just in case I got cut and that I could take that, and I would-I think they knew that I want-I want to coach high school football. I want to go in, but you couldn't get a job then, you know. So once you know it's late, and you know approaching you know middle to late August, you know NFL season was kicking in full gear, and then high college and high schools were already started, and so I became a GA and going to college. Made a lot more sense for me, and so I went to college route and ended up being a line barrel coach, coordinator, and now head coach. And this is a really good fit for me because the years I recruited Chicago for a long time, and the state of I'm from the state of Illinois, but the Midwest, you know, I've been around the Midwest, most of the Midwest. I've been in Florida. Has been a big part of my recruiting area. Georgia, and been in Texas and Arizona. Believe it or not, when I was out in Wyoming, so it's you gain a lot of experience and get you ready for this job. I had my eyes on this place a couple times, and and when it came open, I made a pitch for it, and and it worked out. So it's been a really good fit for me and our family, and my wife and I. We enjoy it's the best place we've ever lived. It's been a great place to live, and we've had a great, great lot of fun and a lot of great run, my opinion, and and we do it all over again. I do it all over again. I make decisions I made and about staying and all that. I I just I'm not a gypsy, you know. A lot of a lot of college football coaches are gypsies. They go from town to town to town to town and pick the 10 up and leave. I just I'm just not. I don't like to. I hate to move, and I like to be ingrained in the community a little bit more. You know, we have very good friends here, just like every other stop we had. And but I've been here the longest now in a row, 18 years in a row. So it's it's been a still. This is the longest I've ever lived in a town here, so that's that.
And during that time, you know, obviously your wife Amy has been become ingrained in the community.
John: Your son Brent played football here for you. Yep, Alicia was the director of operations. So, like, I mean, it's all in the family, right? You know, you grew up in a football family that you hope that your kids like the sport at least.
Brock: I mean, they don't have to, and love it, but they don't have to play it necessarily. But they they like to they like to be around it. If they and both my children love being around it, you know, they grew up in a time. The timing for them was perfect when we went back to Purdue because, you know, we went to Bulls 10 years in a row. So in their formidable years, you know, in the late elementary school, early you know junior high, high school, you know, Brent didn't quite make. He was a freshman in high school when he when I left there, and he came here and finished his career at Normal Community. Had a lot of fun there and had a great career there. But they their idea of was was of Christmas was what bowl game we go into was the closest theme park and how often can they go, and and and and that that's kind of what we did during during it was kind of cool. We put the Santa would come to our house when we were gone, and and he showed up at the at the at the hotel because we we put some presents on the truck. I hope no young kids are listening. And and then we Santa knows. Yeah, Santa knows. And so we, and then they come home and say, "I've been there. So long story short, that's kind of been their life, and they just grew up loving football. And at least they tell me that they really didn't have a lot of choice, I guess. But it's it's a lot easier when you do love football to be in a football family is if you don't, because I can't imagine not being. Because it just kind of runs your whole family.
John: Yeah, how special is that to coach your son and then to get to work with your daughter?
Brock: I was, you know, she turned us down. I think Gary Friedman was a after after Cheyenne came here. Shan hired my son-in-law, hired my daughter when she left. She she's done playing softball at Purdue. She she she worked for Learfield Sports. She wanted to get a master's in sports management. Shayan hired her out of Kansas, and at Kansas she met her husband now, and they have four kids. They just left them, and they went back to the Twin Cities. They live in Victoria, Minnesota. John's the CEO of the Minnesota Golf Association, but he has a Kansas PhD in in higher education. So that's kind of what he thought I wanted to be an AD. He was an AD out in out in a Vision Two school out in Connecticut, where Shan was as a president, and and he decided to go the private route, and he loves golf, and I said, "Follow your dream, and he's done that. But it's been cool because I was able to, because when then Gary first, we can get your daughter back here, and she needs to be a. A ops person probably seems to be great at that. That's all I will say. She said, "I'm gonna stick around here for a while. You know, I got this guy I like. I said, "Okay, and end up getting married, worked out, and then it came open again. And then Larry Lyons was the AD at the time. He said, "What about your daughter coming back here? I said, "Okay, I'll ask the job open. Aaron, my first, our first ops person was a female as well. Aaron Brown and Aaron did a really good job, and she's at she's at TCU now. And I said, yeah, I'll ask her, and I told her, hey, listen, it's the last time I'm asking, so either now or never, and I'm gonna do that. Okay, so she did that, and then and then John got his job, so they followed him. I told him that when they got married, I said, "You're both in higher ed. They're both you're both in in sports in higher ed, and you're not gonna work in the same athletic department. It's gonna it's gonna be really difficult to have that happen, it's just not going to happen. I said you need to, you know, start thinking about who's who's following who, you know. And to me, John has a little bit higher. You know, you have a master, he has a Ph.D. and I think sounds like he's got plans. Yeah, he wants to be an A.D. I said, okay. So that's what he he did. He was an A.D. for a while, and I told him, I said, sure you want to do this? And after the end, he goes, "You're right, Pop. I want them. Wow. I said, "Yeah, it's a lot, and it's a lot for an AD right now. And it's, you know, all these people expect you to do all these things, but it all costs money, and you have to. And guess who gets to raise the money? You have to do it, and then you have to raise the money to do it. And yeah, it was, you know, he he found something that was a little bit more family friendly, and he, and so that's what happened. So, long story short, that's how they both got here, and yeah, they they they loved it here. Lisha, we we lost in the quarterfinals up in in 19 up in the in Dome. It was a great football game. I mean, a great football game, and she her tears were flowing. I don't, and I did. She was so sick. She knew it was the last one game for her. She's going to move on, and it was. It was. She hated. It's just the best job I ever had, other than being a mother. And I said, yeah, I would say that I'd be better. But she really enjoyed football. She always wanted to do it, and she had a great time here. And I, in Illinois State, makes it just a, just a functional family, just a great place to go to school and to be a part of. And whether you're an employee or whether you're a student, in my opinion, it just just comes up, just very inviting. People are just good, good salty earth Midwest, you know, people. That's that's what I what I think our family enjoys.
John: Now that we know a little bit more about you and your family. Let's reflect a little bit about last season. You know, it's six months ago now, which to me is impossible to believe. It seems like just yesterday we were all in Nashville.
Brock: It'll be 10 years pretty soon.
John: Well, and from the first, hopefully we'll get back before then. Later this year. But you know, as you've had a chance to sort of reflect on that experience, it was a historic season. Obviously, winning four straight on the road, beating number one North Dakota State and getting to beat them for the last time as an FCS opponent.
Brock: Done it twice, you know.
John: Yeah, they beat the App State. That was their last game, and FCS sent them packing.
Brock: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They won. They won three in a row. Yeah, and we we we beat them on the road, and that was 2012, and then you look, 26 we beat or 25 we beat the, the bison on the road.
John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then take Montana State to overtime in the championship game. So you know, now that you've had a chance to to think about it a little bit, what are some of those core memories that that you'll remember from last season?
Brock: I remember our toughness. Our senior leadership was really good on our team. You know that that game was it was really what I take away is not necessarily games how we got there and and how tough our team was mentally and physically because you have to stay-you know-physically you have to stay healthy to to run a have a run like that. It's it's unusual. I think we stayed relatively healthy during that run. I'm sure the guys were playing that weren't always feeling great, but they really never let it. And we kind of knew who they were, but but they never showed it on film, and and and they look, you know, all the same every every Saturday played, and that takes a lot of mental and physical toughness, and it takes work ethic because you have to go you have to go to the training room, you have to on top of your stuff so you so you can get healthy for the next game, and we have to do a good job as coaches, you know, having been through this few times and then playing, and you know. All the bowl games at Purdue, and then the national champion game before here, and all the playoffs. You get to you get a again experience Trump's intelligence. You got to kind of go through it to feel, you know, to understand how the players you know respond, how they feel as we go through this. So you have to back. You got to know when to back off. Got knowing you can push them, and and and they did it, but they did a really good job of of managing themselves and and how they they this was a a team where they they this was a player-driven led team and and I was very impressed by that and usually when a coach you know you know they have a players only meeting kind of worry. Okay, here we go, and but it was very. They turned it into fun. They did every every Friday after team team meal on the road. They would go and have a little team meeting, and they they got into they got into powerpoints and and they got and they got into entertainment and and it just it just was something that and and they you hear them hooting and hollering when they laughed and everybody's high five and so it was it was we never stuck our nose in it was just something you observe when you're casually walking away walking away from the dinner table and you're going upstairs you hear them in there, and I never really asked. And I know I knew who I knew who was in charge, and I trusted him, and and and and he, and they all did a really good job with it. So the senior leadership and those those things you take on the road, winning on the road is really fun, you know, in college football, because it's hard to win on the road, and especially in Division One, and then when you're in a playoff scenario, you know that's why I think we'd love to play at home. You know, it'd be great, but we we have we've had home games, but not a ton of them since we've been here, but our team gets very comfortable on the road because I put emphasis on them as we start tomorrow. Was if you want to be a champion, your team got to win on the road, and you got to learn to win on the road because not every situation you're not going to be in a comfortable environment, and we try to put them in comfortable, uncomfortable environments as much as we can here in our own practice field, which is hard to do, and during wintering conditioning and summer conditioning, and in training camp, that's part of as a mental training as well as physical, and put them in a in a in tough scenarios, and getting them to be able to battle through it because especially on the road it's difficult, but this team did extremely, extremely good job of of winning in the road. Now the team of 14 won on the road too, and that you know they did a great job. So I think that's helped us as a staff. You know we've been through it a little bit before, but I was just impressed with this. What my takeaway would be how tough our our team was and how much fun they had and how much they enjoyed being around each other and and how much they cared about each other and how they played for each other and and you know this is it was fun to watch you know that team in 14 was talent really really talented this one is talented I'm not sure they were that talented as they were maybe they maybe they are there's some guys in here that can play pro football I'm sure, but this team just had a real bond and a real toughness about them and camaraderie and that team did too. But it was this was this was how they survived you know that team could survive on talent sometimes because you know some players in that team are really dynamic. This, but these guys are, and we had some of those guys too. But this past year, but we, I think this is this group is just a just a fun group to be around because they really. I don't think they. I won't call them overachievers. I think they just like to achieve, and they're achievers, and they wanted, and they like they like being challenged, and they they didn't think there was a job they couldn't finish, and and I you know that's why I was so hopeful they could pull that game out because I thought we did everything but win the game, you know, that was a little different than 14, but 14 was a very tight game as well, but that that game I thought we were we were really good in the second half. We made some mistakes in the first half and and some in the second too. But but it gets magnified in a game like that a mistake. And it but there I told the team when I came in and they were very disappointed. I could tell see in their eyes that you'll think about this in the coming days, weeks, and months, and years, and you'll be very proud of where you're at and what you did this season. This this is unbelievable, really, because no one's ever done it, and I I think that's great. Greatness is something that's never been done, and I think we we no one's ever done that before. You guys did, so you're gonna you're gonna look back on the disappointment part of it, but you're gonna be very proud of what you did, and it was probably 30 plays. I didn't watch the game till about three weeks ago.
John: Is that right?
Brock: On tape, it was it was just after all the camps were done, and we've been going 100 miles an hour since the game, and so I just came in here. It was a day like today, a summer day. It was an off day. It was Wednesday, so there's nobody around. And so I watched the, I watched the game. I pulled it up, watched offense, defense, specialties. Just watched it. Yep, same plays I saw live, and the same thing. I think I would say 30 plays. I counted about 30 plays. We make one of them. We're national champions. Just gotta make one. You don't have to make all 30. Just gotta make one, and and that's what. When you're in that kind of scenario, it's you gotta you gotta make that one play, and we we call it our split seconds, and how we gain our inches. We gain split seconds and inches of how we train, and how we practice, and all the things we do right now in in the first four quarters, is what gets us ready to win a game like that, and we won a lot of games like that. We didn't win that game, and and but we did some great things, and but split seconds and inches, and that's that's so we're wet back to drawing board and try to win those those scenarios again.
John: So I assume that'll be part of your messaging this this season.
Brock: Yeah, they they get it. They hear that a lot. Yeah, they wonder why. Wonder why he says that. Well, they found out why. You know, they find out you make one play out of 30. Just make one, and you win a national championship. That's what it comes down to in a game like a game like that, and games you play in the Missouri Valley. Missouri Valley gets you ready for that. Yeah. As we know, as better, we were on a roll until Southern Illinois came and spanked us on our own field. We found out real quickly what happens when you're not ready to play mentally. You know, it's a physical thing; it's a mental thing, and probably more. But they they won the game. We did the same thing to them last year, and it's just you have to be ready to play every Saturday. And again, in a in a in a conference like this, in Division One football, you cannot take anything for granted. Split seconds and inches, and you got to do all those little things that that allow you to to gain those split seconds and inches that can win a national title or win a game, and that's important.
John: Yeah, as you start work on the 2026, hopefully into 2027 season, and again reflecting on that national championship experience playing on ESPN when there's no other football game on, so you have the national spotlight, millions of viewers, you know 1000s of Redbird fans in in Nashville. What kind of impact did that game specifically have on this program, from your perspective as a head coach? Did it impact recruiting? You know donations. Have you seen? Did it did it make the the needle move?
Brock: All that stuff is true. Well, you just said yes. It affected all that and the needle. Yes, it does move. Our you know Jerry Beggs, Dr. Beggs, our athletic director is a former business professor here. Yeah, I think marketing actually and she did a study after this, after the season, after the championship game, and I don't know if she's thrown this number out. Do you know how much advertising dollars we, many hits we had on national TV, or whatever? You know how much that would have cost us to pay for that?
John: In the millions, I'm sure.
Brock: $219 Million dollars.
John: Wow.
Brock: Of all of all the face all the times we were on national TV or national radio, whatever, 219 million. You'd have to pay for that kind of publicity. So yes, football is important, and that's why that's why people put putting so much into it, and it is important. If you're going to do it, you got to do it right, and and and I and I know we will here. But I thought that was a. It's great to have someone like her here because she she goes she she can talk across the street, you know, to the folks on on the academic side. Hey, this is, you know, this is why why we do this. You know, this there's no way we get that kind of exposure. We'd have to pay that kind of money to get that kind of exposure. No way you could afford that. You know, and and I've been through that everywhere I've been. You know, at Purdue, we went to the Rose Bowl. One of our our missions, our person in charge of admissions, and the and the vice president sent a letter to our head coach Tiller. He said, "Congratulations, we've officially become a football school. And it was like, "Why are you coming to Purdue? Because of the Rose Bowl. And and that's why kids will come here because they saw us playing a national championship game. Everybody saw the game, and I told our players that I said, "What's cool about the FCS playoffs? First, it's a true playoff, and there's no bowl games. It's a true playoff, and second of all, when you play that national champion, you're the only game on, and everybody who's involved in football is gonna, or has been involved in football, just likes football, is gonna watch the game with just millions of people, and because there's nothing else on, just us, and so that that's you that's the one time you have the whole spotlight, and it's it's it's it's really a cool deal, and kind of what brings me back because I really like that game and or getting to the game, and want to do it again. So, I'm you know I was just the recruiting's been very good. It's usually the year after this, right? This class coming in now for next year. There are seniors in high school. We've had a very good recruiting. We're already done for next year. Wow! And for high school guys, we might have one or two sitting there for a high school player, but probably, and then who knows about the transfer portal? You know, we don't know how that's going to go, but there will be a few guys I'm sure that get in and and move on with their life, and that's part of it. You know, it's just the deal you either deal with as a coach or you get out, and we've we've learned to deal with it. I've learned not to get upset about it. I've tried not. You know, I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. You know, I used to get really mad and upset, and and I said, you know, it's not worth it because this is where it's going. It's not going to change, and they're going to try to do things better, obviously, but it's not going to change. So we have to we have to know this is going to happen. So we'll we'll get ready to to get find enough portal guys to help us, you know, fill holes. But we're not a we're not an all in change our roster with 50 different players every year. I'm not into that. Plus, it's really expensive, and it's really it's it's really hard to do. And you don't know what you're getting on the front end and back end when it comes to character, because you don't know what you're getting. Yeah, you might get a real talented player, but you get a guy that you might get in the guys you don't want in the program. So we got to be very careful about that. So we try to take guys we that fit us really well. We do a lot of research, and we we talk to a lot of other coaches in in our at our level, or maybe even their coaching staff, and find out about the the guys we recruit, it's the best we can do. Now, do we make some mistakes? Sure, but we make less of them. I think. I think we, but the portal will be next. But that'd be down the road. Hopefully, if the national championship game, just hope it won't be a long line. Hope it's a short line of four or five. You know, like it was last year. So I hope so too, coach. Yeah.
And and and speaking of, you know, the portal and flipping the roster-that that kills team culture. It seems like too, right? And that is part of what powered this team last year. They loved each other so much. They wanted to go on the road and be road warriors and win on the road. Like you can't manufacture that by getting a bunch of guys out of the park. Hard to do that in
four months. Yeah, you know exactly. And I look at people. Well, majority of our guys last year came from this program. Now, do we lose guys? Sure, we do. Are we going to lose guys this year? Probably. I'm sure we will. You know, some of it's probably because they should because they want to play. I'm not going to. If a kid's not playing here, I want him to have fun with his career. He wants to play. I don't have any problem with that, you know, and and that's that's good for the player if he wants to, you know, explore that. But I don't. I don't. Majority of our team is always going to be high school recruiting, high school, you know, relationships. You know, kids who grew up either here or within 300 miles of here, we really keep it to that, and then we we'll expand a little bit here and there. But our best players have come from Illinois and Indianapolis, you know, St. Louis, you know, you know, Kansas City, even. But not, I mean, we we've had a few guys from completely different parts of the country. We have obviously really good players, and they come from anywhere. But majority of our guys come from Illinois, so we are Illinois State University, and that's why Brock Speck's a head coach here because he's bringing Illinois. I'm an Illinois guy. Yeah, you know, so I try to keep try to keep the best players here.
John: This team embodies your identity, right? I mean, being a hard-nosed guy from Rockford. You know, do you recruit? Does your staff recruit players that that that fit that mold?
Brock: They have to. I don't think they're going to survive here. Yeah, if they don't, and if and not everybody comes in, you know, you know, I'm not wanted. You just you don't know what you don't know sometimes, and not every kid's going to come in here and be a world beater and and be a street fighter, and but when you cross those white lines, you really have no choice. You either do it this way or or you get embarrassed, and. And most people, most players, the Division One players have pride, and and they want to go out and show that they belong on a football field at this level. Sometimes they don't realize how good these guys are, and I get that from a lot from the high school coach. Oh, this kid can play for you? No, he can't. Yes, he can. No, he can't. I'm telling you, he can't play here. Oh, coach, he can play. He can play it. He played all along. I said no, I can't. And they just they don't get it. They never they never done it. They they don't they don't come watch this practice coach and look at your. I love when we have our our our high school camps are going on, and our players. It's a hot day like today in June, and they're walking across the stadium into the weight room, like these guys are right there. And but they have their shirts off, and they're 335 pounds, and they're 656667, and Johnny, little Johnny's, about 510 and a half and 220. My son doesn't look like that. I said, no, he doesn't. He'll never look like that, and he'll never play here. So just in, in it's kind of an eye-opening experience. Those parents just stare at our guys, and they walk. I said, "Yeah, even here, even my own mom, she she she went downstairs one time when I came. God, they're big. I said, "What expect? I mean, division one football. Yeah, they're big. I mean, big people beat up little people. So in our game, so we like big, but obviously love athletic too. So, but there's a certain type of guy, certain type of mentality, and and if it's not for everybody, you know. And I tell them in the recruiting process, this might not be for you. I mean, you got you got to make that decision, and and there'll be some tough times down the road, but you have to be tough enough to to because most kids that hang in here end up playing and there there's very few fifth year seniors that don't play here. I mean, if they hang in there, you know, you might think I never thought that guy would play. They love them playing because they work their way into it. They're experienced. They they're tough, and this team was a great example of that. And to answer your question, yeah, we'll be a high school program as long as I'm the head coach, but you can't stay out of the portal business. It's like being a junior college transfers, right? We were always, but it was like this is a little bit better for us because we get a you know kind of a higher end guy sometimes Academically too, so so that's that.
John: Speaking of players, this season will kick off without Tommy Rittenhouse, Daniel Sopkowitz. Those guys were staples who made their mark, you know, on this program, and unfortunately had to graduate and earn their degrees, which is awesome. You do have several key returners, Ty Necamp, All-American linebacker, among others. What do you hope?
Brock: Dawson? Both kids would be up for National Players of the Year. Could we win the offense and defense National Player of the Year? I've told both players that wouldn't that be interesting to see two guys? I don't know. I don't think that's ever been done. You know, the
birds need to make more history. Yes, this makes more history. It's what we do. We do things that's never been done. That's a sign of greatness. So the the in a positive way. Don't do things that's never done in a negative way. Could go both. Yeah, could go both ways. We don't want to go the wrong way. So, but you know that'd be interesting. We do have some good players coming back. Absolutely, and I I'm I'm not. I'm not down. Everybody understands that this this this whole game center also the quarterback. Yeah. It whatever other sports play with the ball. The person that delivers the ball in play, whether it's a point guard in basketball, whether it's a pitcher in baseball, whether it's a quarterback in football, that person is really important. So there's no doubt the quarterback's really important. I'm very pleased with the with the with our options there right now. We have quite a few of them, and and we'll we'll have we have five really good players there. I think three of them right now are are could play for us and we could win with, and and even other guys we could too. I'm not saying they can't. They're just a little more or less experienced, but I think I think you know you know Beckham Pellent has got a big time arm. He has a really good release, a quick release with an RPO game you need to have. Not as fast as Tommy, a little little bigger maybe, but not as fast, not as athletic, but a bigger arm. And Tommy was a really accurate thrower. His his his throwing talent became better and better and better. He worked so hard at it. He got better at it, and he got stronger. But Beckham has a big arm, so he's gonna have to move people more with his eyes and his arm. And he has to do with his feet. Now his feet are are good. I wouldn't say they're great, but they're good, and he and he's worked really hard in training. He's he was sat in church in front of me today, daily mass with, and Ted Schmitz was sitting nice. Hey, that's Beckham. Yes, Beckham. He go he goes to church too, and and but he yeah he he's he's he's in good shape by the best. Shape of his life. Then we have the the quarterback from Gage Roy from USC. Gage is a little bigger than than than Beckham. He's he's probably a notch more athletic. Maybe maybe who knows? I don't know. It's July. Yeah, we don't know. But I think he's a little, he's really good in the weight room. He runs offense really well. He's still learning it. He he's much more comfortable. You can see he's making. You know, the players have said, "Boy, he's a lot different. It was in the spring. Well, yeah, he doesn't know the. He's trying to learn. He's really smart. He has a he has a he has an undergraduate degree in in business at USC, so he's pretty smart guy. Yeah, I'd say. And but even smart guys, he's got a lot to know, and and he can tell he's settling down. You know, hair faster, maybe a little bit bigger. He maybe not quite the arm strength, but has a fluid arm, very accurate, can run the offense and can make all the throws, so he's a pretty thrower. And then, guy that made a huge, huge push in the spring that came out of nowhere was Chase Kukowski. I mean, Chase was a really good young athlete. We thought he looks like a linebacker. He's put together really well, and he can run, and he's athletic, and tough, physical, and he's got a quick release, and he's starting to get his arm talent starting to get a lot better, and you know that's that's what he had to improve in out of high school, and if he if he can get that figured out, watch out now. You're gonna have yourself a really good player here, because I think he's gonna be really good, and he he will probably be on the playing field in some way somehow. I'll just say that I'm not going to give it away, but but he he will be out there because he he with the balls in his hands he can he can do some things, so it's very interesting. So, and we got some two good young players. Comet's a good. He's a good athlete. He's a walk-on player. You know, I know his dad, Frank, was played for us at Purdue. His brother's a first-round draft pick. I mean, he he's he's a good-looking dude. I keep thinking, God, you're why you play football for? You should be on a GQ magazine. But but he he he laughs. He goes, Yeah, I know your parents. I knew them when they were in college too. They were the power couple at Purdue when they were very young, but it doesn't surprise me. But he's he's a good player. He's a good athlete, getting better. You know, we got a young young young gunslinger from Detroit. It's going to be a good player. I I think he's going to be a year. He needs some weight room work because he's he's kind of thin right now, but he's a really good athlete. He's gonna be good player. So I I like our options here. As good a group of five as you could probably get here. I mean, as a core. You know, as a whole. You know, one of the better. It's gonna be fun to watch. You know, because it it was it's been very competitive. They all get along fine. They're good friends. It seems to be, and there's no issues, and and they and they all compete, and they all cheer for each other. You know, it's just a it's a good it's a good. I think it's a good working environment right now. It's kind of that way everywhere on our team, and that's not the only position that has competition like that. The receiver crew, there'll be guys fighting to get on the field that are good players now, that they haven't played yet. That are really good young players. So there'll be some good battles there. Good battles up front on offense and defense. Best one of the better linebacker crews we've had in a while. We got some experience there. Starting to get better. Guess got our depth is better. Secondary seems to be pretty solid too. Very very much deeper than we were a year ago, so I think this team's a little deeper, you know, with with number of guys that can go in and play. I'm not sure they're every position they're a better player, but maybe there are some guys that are better. I will say about our everybody say you haven't mentioned the receivers. I think some of the guys you lost there, I mean, and the quarterback. I said, I'm pretty happy with the guys that are here. I think they're going to be pretty good. You know, this happens every year. You know, guys graduate from college and they move on. You know, they think pro football, they stay for 9, 10 years. You know, they have to move on.
John: They get degrees here at Illinois State.
They do. We get degrees, and and sometimes two, sometimes two, sometimes three. Yeah, yeah. We've had I had three, but it not a PhD. Yeah, two undergrads. Okay, impressive still. Yeah, still very impressive. But I just think it's a team that it's going to be. There's going to be competition a lot of places, and we have a little more depth, and there's, you know, the deeper your team goes, the better opportunities to get better, because practice is just better, because your practicing is a real good guy. It's not too far off of you, and a guy going across from you is really good, and that's why I always tell people about, you know, quarterbacks, you know, recruit quarterbacks, huge. I've been part of a big quarterback U, and had a great one there in a while.
John: But you coached Drew Brees, right? I
Brock: Did not coach him, but I was in the sense I was on the coaching staff. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I was I was a defensive coordinator, and I would I would ask him, you know, after after we would scrimmage him, you know, and you coached against him a lot of scrimmage every Saturday, or every every day, and and I would I'd learn from him because you know you can learn from a great player, and he and I'd say Drew after after Saturday scrimmages in spring I I think you mind I come in and we'll sit down just talk for 1520 minutes and end up being an hour because Drew likes to talk football too, and he said, "Well, and then we talked about how to disguise coverages, you know, how we how we do it, and and or disguise a blitz, and he was he was very well. He would tell me certain guys what they were doing at tipped up blitz, so I'd get that guy that we couldn't necessarily see on film, it was their eyes. You know where they're staring. They're staring at the ball. They're staring at at the gap. They're gonna. I know where he's coming from. I can just tell by his body language, and I'd set the protection. And and I wasn't always right, but that was just being able to play with your eyes before the snap of football, you you know that's a real minute detail, and you got to get in the position of your of your of your stance. And is your stance a little different when you're ready to blitz or a pressure? Are you are you in a stance that you're looking like you're dropping? Just stuff like that. We we talk about, and he helped me more with individual players, and and and I knew all the other stuff, but and I knew about eyes and all that stuff. But but he would well these guys tipping me with his eyes. I said good to know that. And he but he would if you could fool him, you you could you could fool anybody on Saturday because he's as good as I've ever seen at picking that stuff up. That's why he's such a great player, and he he he had that that that knack. He just he had a high high football IQ. He had a high IQ anyways, but he was a very high football IQ, and he was he was hard to he was hard to fool. And we and we that's what you try to do on defense. Football is a game of deception on both sides. Try to sieve your opponent. You show them something, but it's deceptive. You know, it's not what we're doing. Right. So that's kind of it in a nutshell. And but yeah, I learned a lot from him. He was he was because he would he would tell me he would tell me about my team. You know, you know you go this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy. Oh, this guy, this guy, this guy. No, they they do a great job. I don't like playing against them because they don't tip stuff like. I said, well, that's good to know because I can, because he's not as good a player as the guy behind him. The guy behind him's a really good, better player, but this tells me why he's not ready to play because this guy doesn't know how to handle his eyes and all that stuff yet. So I, I know that was a long answer, but being around a guy like that was really helpful in my career. Yeah.
John: You and and it kind of goes back to your saying that experience, you know, trumps intelligence. Intelligence, right? Yeah. So how about the experience that so many of these guys on the 2026 Redbirds have of going to the national championship game. They know what it takes.
Brock: Experience trumps intelligence. I mean, you can you can think about what it takes. You can say, okay, that's what it takes. Unless you have done it, they have no idea. It's like when those freshmen are eyeballs this big around, and it's it's it's january 1, and we're out there practicing. They're going, this is this is different. I'm not used to this. This is Big 10 football, and this is where we want to be. We're one of only one and two teams still playing, so you know we yeah. It's experience is important. This whole team had to go through it, and when that's the one thing I told Mike, and after this spring, is another thing I probably should bring up to you is when we went out and practiced, and and the coaching said, "God, they they just they just knew how to practice right away. Well, they practiced a lot last year. They practiced for 17 games, and then up in the almost the middle of January, I said they practiced a lot. They practice, practice. They practice half the year. Yeah, you know, and and they they know how to practice. And this team, we did not. I did. I'd be surprised if I'll bring it up to them in here. And you know, when you bring it up here and they they take it from the board to the field, that they you got a pretty experienced team. Yeah. But I would be shocked if this team doesn't go out there and just fly around the first couple days, just you just you won't have to you won't have to tell them hey you got to run from this drill to this drill. You guys are you're walking and I don't think there might be some the rookies weren't here in the spring yeah those guys who probably will you know some of the guys haven't been here before you might have to bark at a little bit but. These guys know how to practice, and and that was the one thing you saw in spring football. This team was ready to play right out of the gate because they didn't understand how to practice. They understand what tempo we play. Is it is it whiz? Is it thud? Is it live? You know, they get all that. You don't have to explain it to them. Transitioning from drill to drill when the horn blows, I don't you don't tell them that. You know, there's some young guys here that that that'll probably bark at them, and they'll I'll stop practice, start it again, and and they'll be not too happy, and they'll make sure that guy they'll they'll make sure they teach him. This is not what we do here, so so I don't, I don't, I hope not, but I wouldn't surprise me. But good, good group of guys. I mean, really good, real experience. So that should, that should bode well for the practice field.
John: What are you most looking forward to about this season?
Brock: Well, I love, I love putting together a roster, and I'd be less than honest if I said there are some cool things about the portal, you know. Can can can this guy really make us that much better, and or will he will he be a just a fill in? Will he be a depth guy? You know, it's it's. I like to find out what those answers Are and but I think I think this you know I I just I just I like the I like the roster I like I like seeing is this the roster is this the one that's going to win a national championship it's hard to say sometimes this early you know I would never I'll say I never but I wouldn't I would have said yeah I think this team has a chance to get in the playoffs last year, but to make the run they made, it's amazing. Because I didn't think you know it's hard to keep healthy, you know, stay healthy. That's not their fault. You know, it happens in football. It's not the contact sport. Yeah, and it's not always a player's fault. I mean, guys get banged up, and and we were fortunate enough to stay away from some of that, and we got some guys back, you know. Later on, that helped a little bit, but is you know just curious because I think we're deeper. I wonder how deep this this competition will go. You know, you look kind of look at your non-conference games at preseason. You don't want to say it's preseason, but they're non-conference games, and but there's some big non-conference games for us, and because you're always looking at the tournament, right? So winning these games are big, and you have Northern Illinois in there, which is a you know is now a power five, six power group of six team now, and they moved up to the Mountain West, and I coached in the Mountain West, a really good team, really league. So you got them on the schedule. That's always nice to have a team like that there, and to go up there and be able to play up there would be really good for our team. Will we have enough to go? You know, try to win a game like that, and we're gonna we're gonna go up there try to win the game, obviously. But do we have enough? We'll find out. And I do like this team a lot, so you know I think the leadership's good. We we we still have room to improve there. The depth and who's we got to kind of figure out you know who's who's 123 or one A 1b, you know those kind of things because we that that that's good. You want I tell the players say before we start training camp every year. I said, listen, your job is to make our job really hard. That's your job. Make it hard, hard, hard. How? Who's gonna play? How much you're gonna play? Your job is to make our job really hard. I don't know, you know. If you, some people say there are some coaches that'll say if you don't have a one, if you don't, you can't find a one. You don't have a one or two. You know, it's interesting. If there's no, if you can't make decisions with two different players, you you don't have a one, and and that's, I've been in situations. Yeah, that's true sometimes, but other times is you got really two good players sitting there. That's really fun to have. So we'll see.
John: What's it going to take to get back to Nashville?
Brock: We'll have to have an idea what we're doing at quarterback. Us being courting staff, I think we we have a very good plan. I thought our plan was really good in the spring. I thought it was really good over the summer. I think we've done a good job of developing everyone on our team, but particularly in that room. I think that'll be key. Staying healthy, and in our sport, is probably the most important thing. Is because you want to work with the same players each and every week, and the more those guys are out there, the better you get. Because especially in special teams, you know, special teams win and lose games. We found out right, and and we we when you're working with the same guys or you have to keep rotating guys in and out, it's hard to get good at that and be better when. Working with the same group of guys, they can seem to get better. So just settling on a settling on a travel team, settling on that is is going to be important. That's what training camp's all about. It's okay. See who's now. Let's see who's ready to play. Let's see if this guy moved up. Has this guy gotten better? Is our is our good best some of our good players gone backwards? You know, for whatever reason, injury or whatever, or or they they lose their their their stinger. Sometimes guys lose their stinger in our game. That happens, that happens, and because they they don't have a you know you you only have so many hits left in you. But there's all those questions come up, man. We we gotta gotta find out the answer. So, but yeah, this team, this team's kind of gonna be. I think it's gonna be fun to watch, and they're good. They're good students. They broke, they broke the, the, the program record again in the in the in the spring for GPA. Broke it again, and so they're really smart. We got one from Vanderbilt and got transferred from Princeton, so I think we got that cadet, and a guy with a USC degree. So I think we got got that covered with our transfers. So,
Coach, can't wait to to watch the Redbirds out here, and I'm sure you're excited to get it started here. Yeah, we're real excited. So thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
John: That was Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack. The Redbirds kick off the 2026 season Saturday, August 29th at 6 p.m. against St. Francis at Hancock Stadium. Tickets are available at goredbirds.com. Thanks to Coach Spack for joining us, and thanks to you for listening, and be sure to tune in next time for more stories from beyond the quad.