The man who orchestrated some of the best defenses in IU football history passed away this week.
Longtime college football coach Joe Novak was 81. He was the defensive coordinator at IU for 12 seasons (1984-1995) under head coach Bill Mallory.
At Indiana, he was a part of seven winning regular seasons and six post-season bowl appearances in 12 years.
His 1993 Indiana defense produced three shutouts during an 8-4 campaign while finishing seventh in the country in scoring defense.
Under Novak, IU claimed six first team All-Big Ten selections on defense and seven defenders were picked for at least one post-season all-star game.
As part of some of Indiana’s most historic wins, IU held Ohio State to 10 points in Columbus in 1987, and Michigan to 10 in Bloomington later that same year. The Hoosiers held Ohio State to just seven points in a 1988 win over the Buckeyes.
After his time at IU, Novak led a historic turnaround as the head coach at Northern Illinois, similar to Mallory’s turnaround in Bloomington.
After an 8-36 start as head coach, NIU posted seven-straight winning seasons, including a 10-2 mark in 2003. They posted wins over Iowa State, Maryland and Alabama during his tenure.
Novak spent a total of 16 years with Mallory. Upon Mallory’s passing in 2018, Novak said Mallory’s influence became instinctual.
“Sometimes when I was talking to the teams at Northern [as head coach], I’d hear Bill Mallory come out of my mouth and I said, you know, that’s OK.” Novak said.
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