Thomas Hammock unloads on beat reporter in bizarre press conference tirade

Thomas Hammock took offense to a question about his quarterback situation after Northern Illinois beat Ball State on Saturday.

The NIU coach got defensive when Daily Chronicle sports editor Eddie Carifio brought up the confusion surrounding who would start at quarterback the previous week against Ohio. Josh Holst ended up starting that game after Brady Davidson had been listed as the starter on the depth chart, and Hammock hadn’t indicated otherwise when asked about Davidson’s performance following the Eastern Michigan loss.

“I do want to say something,” Hammock said during his postgame press conference. “I think you implied that I misled you a couple of days ago with the quarterback situation, and I want to make sure that you understand that I’m not a liar and I’m not going to do anything of that nature. You asked me about Brady Davidson after the Eastern Michigan game. And I answered the question about Brady… That’s not right.”

Just watched the @NIU_Football vs @BallStateFB post-game press conference. OH BOY!

I understand Hammock’s frustration with the press. With that being said, Hammock should have spoken to the reporter individually and in private to express any concerns.

IMP, it seemed extremely… pic.twitter.com/sqawpcHLnq

— 𝖊𝖉𝖉𝖎𝖊 𝖆𝖌 (@EddieAG_) October 26, 2025

Carifio pushed back, insisting he never used the word liar.

“But you implied that,” Hammock said. “Don’t imply things like that because that’s not right. You didn’t ask me the question. You asked me about Brady. I talked about Brady. I had nothing to say about Josh because you didn’t ask me about Josh. I respect the job that you guys do, but respect me as a man. Don’t try to imply that I’m lying because that’s not right.”

The confrontation stemmed from a tweet Carifio posted Oct. 18, after his Ohio game preview incorrectly predicted Davidson would start.

“I honestly don’t know what the point of going to the NIU press conferences is if we’re going to just be fed false information,” he wrote.

I honestly don’t know what the point of going to the NIU press conferences is if we’re going to just be fed false information

— Deadie CarifiBOO (@DDCEddieCarifio) October 18, 2025

Carifio later provided context for his frustration. After the Eastern Michigan game, he asked Hammock about Davidson’s performance. Hammock praised Davidson and said it was “always an open competition” and “no job is guaranteed,” adding that Holst “has done some nice things this year too.”

The depth chart that week listed Davidson as the starter. Based on Hammock’s comments and the depth chart, Carifio assumed Davidson would start against Ohio. He didn’t.

“Normally, I would have followed up my question about Davidson with a who’s starting,” Carifio wrote on X. “But between his answer and the depth chart, I let it go. The next week, I did flat out ask if Holst was starting. And you’ll notice the answer was a glib ‘why wouldn’t he be?'”

The quarterback situation has been a recurring theme for NIU this season. Holst started the first few games before getting benched for Davidson, who made his first start against Miami (Ohio) in Week 4. Davidson attempted just one pass against Eastern Michigan in Week 6 before Holst returned to the starting role against Ohio.

Holst has started the last two games, including Saturday’s win over Ball State. He went 21-for-29 for 161 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals after throwing for 182 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Ohio.

The Huskies are 2-5 and have struggled offensively all season. They haven’t scored more than 21 points in any game and rank near the bottom of the FBS in total offense. The quarterback instability has been part of that problem, with Hammock switching between Holst and Davidson multiple times.

“The whole reason I brought it up is that it makes my reporting look bad, so I was explaining why 1/3 of my preview was flat wrong,” Carifio explained.