Connections made 17 years ago as a Huskie offensive linemen led current Northern Illinois University tight ends coach Jason Onyebuagu to training camp with the Los Angeles Chargers last week as part of the NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program.
Onyebuagu, who met Chargers head coach Brandon Staley during his freshman season at NIU in 2006, spent the week attending staff and position meetings and working with the Chargers offensive line. He was welcomed as part of the team from the time he arrived.
“It was awesome,” Onyebuagu said. “You know, Coach [Staley] pulled us right in the staff meeting, introduced us to the whole team and gave us the opportunity to be one of them. Every meeting was open. Every coach had their door open and wanted us to come talk ball and ask questions and just invited us to come gain knowledge.”
Onyebuagu returned to his offensive line roots during the week.
“For the week I got to work with the o-line,” he said. “It was fun getting a chance to get in there with the big boys. They have a great group of guys and they welcomed me right into the room and we got some really good work in. It was great to see the flow of [their practices] up front and be right there in the mix and get a chance to get your hands on guys and coach. In the end it was football, it was training camp, the same thing we’re going through now.”
NIU head coach Thomas Hammock was a running backs coach on the 2006 Huskie team that included Staley, then a defensive graduate assistant and Onyebuagu, who made five starts and played in every game as a true freshman offensive lineman. Hammock said the fellowship provides a great opportunity to network and develop as a coach.
“Obviously Brandon Staley knows us, and they had originally talked about JO going out last year,” Hammock said. “It’s tremendous for him to get that experience. It’s a great opportunity to network, to see different ways of doing things and how the NFL runs training camp. It broadens your horizons and I’m glad it worked out this year for him to go out and do that.”
Onyebuagu said the relationships forged at NIU with Hammock and Staley have remained strong as he embarked on his coaching career.
“[Staley] has been great,” Onyebuagu said, “He’s tracked me through his career, and he’s always done a good job of reaching out and saying, ‘keep working, keep progressing.’ Obviously, we built that relationship while he was here when I was a player and he was a young coach, and that’s the NIU family. That’s what we’re about.”
Onyebuagu was excited to bring what he learned and what he observed, especially in the way that the pros conduct themselves, back to the NIU players.
“One of the biggest takeaways was just seeing the extra work those guys put in on their own and seeing how they practice,” Onyebuagu said. “They’re there a half an hour early working on things that they might not get to practice, but they need to get better. They are always looking to find more information and exactly how to do things, pay attention to the details, the way they ask questions and try to build knowledge in the meetings.”
The Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship Program is more than 30 years old and is designed to give young coaches the opportunity to observe, participate, gain experience and make connections with current NFL coaches during training camps, offseason workout programs and minicamps.
NIU Football preseason practices are underway at Huskie Stadium. Read position by position previews of the team beginning Wednesday on NIUHuskies.com and continuing throughout camp. See the complete camp schedule and links to daily coverage on the 2022 Camp Central page on NIUHuskies.com.
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